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This morning I received the terrible and frankly heart breaking news that Sonatta Morales has died in RL.
A little over two weeks ago she was feeling unwell, told me she was having a headache.
That of course didn’t stop her from performing at her Eldorado club in 1920s Berlin, after all, the phrase ‘the show must go on’ was etched into her soul.
But she didn’t come back online and a few days later I was contacted by her RL friends who informed me that her headache turned out to be something more serious, a lot more serious.
She was taken to hospital and today she died.
Her last days were peaceful and she was surrounded by loved ones when she passed away.
To me personally Sonatta, above anything else, was my best friend who I will miss in ways I can’t describe in words.
We were always talking about meeting up in RL, but now we never will.
But she was so much to so many.
In the vintage, retro and history scene of Second Life she was a celebrity, her glamorous clothes could be seen at many sims and all the best events.
In 1920s Berlin she ran the Eldorado Cabaret, setting up a brand new show every single Saturday for an adoring audience.
In Time Portal she danced on stage at Mama Bao’s club to an adoring crowd.
She became a star and as well as a brand.
People were bragging about owning “an early Morales design” and I reckon Sonatta would have loved it to know that her clothes will remain a familiar sight in Second Life for a long time to come.
When I first had the idea for 1920s Berlin it was Sonatta who gave me inspiration and courage to do it, she fell in love with the idea right away and loved Berlin as much, perhaps in some ways even more than I do.
Without it our community may not have even existed.
She was Berlin, Berlin was Sonatta, our community will never be the same again.
But as Sonatta would have said; The show must go on.
Her villa on Behrenstrasse in 1920s Berlin has become a monument and little museum to her life.
Her shops, the Eldorado and mama Bao’s club will continue.
But above all her clothes still being seen everywhere in SL will be the biggest monument to her work.
Auf wiedersehen Sonatta, as your hero Marlene Dietrich once sang; you’ll always have a suitcase in berlin.
Jo Yardley's Second Life 