Cristina Monet Zilkha, best known for 1981 new wave hit "Things Fall Apart", died, 61, due to complications from coronavirus.

The confirmation of the sudden death of the 80's singer came from people close to her. Michel Esteban, ZE Records co-founder, posted the album cover for the "Cristina: ZE Redux" version of her self-titled debut album. The post was captioned "Is that all there is" and shared that he woke up with the "devastating news" of the singer's passing. Another friend, Joanna Pickering, posted her condolences on Instagram, sharing that "she said she was sick last evening but not so worried as her lungs were clear." Fans have also expressed their grief about the loss on Cristina's final Instagram post two days ago.

An obituary written by André Wheeler for The Guardian, recounts the pop singer's career, enumerating her dance-pop hits like "Disco Clone", "Things Fall Apart", and Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is." Cristina became famous as a part of the underground New York scene at the onset of the 1980s.

Born Cristina Monet-Palaci in January 1959, she started working as writer for America's first alternative weekly paper, "The VIllage Voice", where she met her would-be husband Michael Zilka. Zilka, together with Esteban, would later establish ZE Records, the label Cristina would work for. In 1978, Cristina recorded "Disco Clone", written by her classmate at Harvard, Ronald Melrose. 

As "Disco Clone" became a popular underground pop song, ZE released a full-length album at the turn of the decade, with August Darnell as the producer. Cristina would release the cover of a Peggy Lee 1969 original, "Is That All There Is", but with satirical lyrics instead. American songwriting duo Leiber and Stoller sued the 1980 version and had it suppressed until it was re-issued in 2004. Her second album focused on a satirical description of urban decadence and was entitled "Sleep it Off." Because of the poor performance of her sophomore album, she retired to being a housewife in Texas.

In 1990, Cristina and Michael filed for divorce, and the singer returned to New York City. Cristina would then contribute to various publications including London's "Times Literary Supplement" and would remain a writer for the rest of her life. 

Cristina's death due to coronavirus is the latest in the continuing string of artists falling to the highly contagious disease. Yesterday, April 1, Fountains of Wayne bassist co-founder Adam Schlesinger also died from Covid-19 while country icon Joe Diffie died last March 29. Just last week, Cameroonian musician behind the world music pioneer "Soul Makossa," Manu Dibango, also passed away in France. The number of confirmed positives among musicians are also steadily increasing, which now include legendary country singer-songwriter John Prine and Kalie Shorr and hip-hop artist Scarface of the Geto Boys

As of this article, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Map shows that there are close to a million confirmed positives for coronavirus around the world, with the total deaths climbing close to 50,000. The United States alone makes up a fifth of the total cases at 216,000 and 5,000 deaths. 

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