*Prince was in Australia for his “Piano and A Microphone Tour” on Monday when he heard about the death of his former protégé Denise Matthews, whom he renamed Vanity after recruiting her for his girl group Vanity 6.
“I just found out a little while ago that someone dear to us has passed away, so I’m going to dedicate this song to her,” Australia’s News.com.au reported Prince said before beginning “Little Red Corvette.”
Prince also changed the lyrics of several songs to honor Vanity, such as the name Electra in “The Ladder” to Vanity. He also changed the closing words of the song “The Beautiful Ones” from “my knees” to “Denise.”
“I am new to this playing alone,” Prince said before playing “The Beautiful Ones.” “I thank you all for being so patient. I’m trying to stay focused, it’s a little heavy for me tonight. Just keep jamming … She knows about this one.”
He also shared several anecdotes about Vanity. “Her and I used to love each other deeply, he said. “She loved me for the artist I was, I loved her for the artist she was trying to be. She and I would fight. She was very headstrong because she knew she was the finest woman in the world. She never missed an opportunity to tell you that.”
He told one story about how he threatened to throw her into a swimming pool, but she told him he couldn’t do it because he was “too little.” So instead, he got his bodyguard Chick to do it for him.
“I probably shouldn’t be telling this story,” he said. “But she’d want us to celebrate her life and not mourn her.”
Vanity died in a Fremont, California hospital on Feb. 15. She was 57. Last year the singer put up a GoFundMe page, stating that she was diagnosed with an inflammation of the small intestines called sclerosis encapsulating peritonitis.
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