Cristian Vasile

Cristian Vasile (May 8, 1908, Braila – June 15, 1974, Sibiu) was a well-known Romanian tango-romance (Romanţă) singer between 1928 and 1949, famous for songs such as "Zaraza", "Aprinde o ţigară", "Ce să-ţi mai scriu", "Pentru tine am făcut nebunii", "Nunuţo". He died in 1974 in Sibiu. His greatest success, the song "Zaraza", that was said to refer to a Roma woman he was in love with at that time, was in fact an adapted version of a Uruguayan tango written in 1929 by Benjamín Alfonso Tagle Lara. A popular rumour surrounding the song says that Vasile's lover was murdered by a rival singer, Zavaidoc, and her death caused Vasile to never sing again. Vasile did in fact abruptly stop his singing career, but a more credible explanation is that he lost his voice due to cancer. Although he was supposedly at odds with Zavaidoc, there is no proof that such a rivalry existed beyond mere rumours.