Naya Rivera sang on Glee If I Die Young years before star ‘was presumed dead after tragic boat accident’ at 33
ONE of Naya Rivera’s most memorable performances on Glee was her rendition of song If I Die Young — which came years before she was presumed dead by authorities.
Rivera, 33, performed the song by The Band Perry in the hit television show during a 2013 episode following the death of fellow cast member Cory Monteith, who accidentally overdosed that year.
Singing as her character Santana Lopez, Rivera sang the song as a tribute to Monteith, who played the star football quarterback Finn Hudson, with whom her character, a high school cheerleader, had a fling.
Rivera powerfully belted out the tune as the Glee Club students mourned Finn’s death in the show before breaking down mid-song and running off when her classmates tried to console her.
The show’s creators and writers didn’t explain why Finn died in the show, but during The Quarterback episode, it’s clear Santana was torn over Finn’s passing.
On Wednesday, Rivera vanished while boating with her four-year-old son, Josey, on Lake Piru in California.
The two rented a pontoon boat around 1pm, and headed out onto the lake.
Josey told investigators that after they jumped in the lake to swim, he came back up to the boat — but his mother never did.
By Thursday, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office switched their search and rescue mission to a recovery operation.
As of Friday evening, Rivera’s body has yet to be found and authorities have said she’d “presumed dead.”
Fans of Glee have fearfully speculated that Rivera’s disappearance is part of a so-called “curse” on the show, which aired from 2009 until 2015.
Monteith’s death is claimed by fans to be part of the apparent curse.
The body of the Canadian actor, 31, was found in his hotel room after he consumed a “mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol,” authorities said.
The series’ most controversial actor, Mark Salling, was found hanged in woods in January 2018, weeks before he was due to be jailed for possession of 50,000 child abuse images.
Salling, who played Noah “Puck” Puckerman in all six seasons, had pleaded guilty to possession of child abuse images in 2017 and was awaiting sentencing, after authorities were reportedly tipped off by an ex-girlfriend.
Another cast member on the show, Becca Tobin, also suffered a personal tragedy when her boyfriend, nightclub entrepreneur Matt Bendik, was found dead in his hotel room in July 2014 at the age of 35.
Following the end of the show, Rivera faced problems in her own personal life.
In 2017, she was arrested and charged with domestic battery after allegedly assaulting her actor ex-husband Ryan Dorsey in an argument over Josey.
The charge was dropped after Dorsey told prosecutors he no longer wanted to proceed with the case.
Last month, it emerged that the set of Glee wasn’t always a harmonious place to work.
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Actress Samantha Ware slammed star Lea Michele on Twitter, claiming she made her time on the series “a living hell.”
Multiple cast members then came forward with similar allegations of “bullying” against the 33-year-old Glee star.
On Friday, the sheriff’s office in California said there was no sign of Rivera in the lake, which they’ve been searching using cadaver dogs, divers, and sonar to look through the water.