As we’ve previously reported, Naya Rivera tragically passed away on July 8th after a
terrible accident while on a boating trip with her 4-year-old son Josey.
At first Naya was reported missing, but nearly a week later, authorities confirmed that they
discovered a body that did in fact belong to Naya.
Around the same time, it was determined that the cause of her death was an accidental drowning.
Many fans and celebs have continued to mourn Naya Rivera’s tragic death on social media
with heartfelt tributes and posts over the past few weeks.
And in the wake of this tragedy we decided to round up 10 of Naya Rivera’s career highlights
and best moments right here on Listed.
Let’s start with way back in the 90’s when Naya starred in the CBS sitcom “The
Royal Family.”
Many of you might not know, but Naya was acting long before her days on Glee.
She had countless roles as a child actress on shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,
The Bernie Mac Show, and Family Matters.
And at just five years old, Naya was already a rising star in her role as Hillary Winston
on “The Royal Family.”
She brought an adorable sense of comic relief to the show with lines like this one.
“May I say something else?
Please do.
Ok this broccoli is giving me gas.”
Naya was even nominated for a Young Artist Award for her role in the show back in 1992.
And Naya worked as a young actress on shows like CSI: Miami and Even Stevens before landing
her iconic role as Santana Lopez on Glee.
“Ow my foot.
Charlene what did you do that for?
As him.
He’s the one who put this gum in my hair.
No I didn’t.
Yeah and that was for lying, stay away from me!”
Alright, so let’s talk about Naya’s role as Santana, she was known for her beautiful
singing voice and pioneering an iconic LGBTQ character.
If you are a fan of Glee, you definitely remember this moment in season 5 when Santana sings
Rain On My Parade.
And die hard Gleeks know that Lea Michele AKA Rachel Berry had already performed that
song so some people think it was one of the biggest flexes of the whole show.
And to say Naya flexed her epic vocal skills in this performance would be an understatement.
But Glee wasn’t only about solos, it was about duets and collaborations and another
one of our favorite moments...
Naya performing with Demi Lovato.
Demi was guest-starring as one of Santana’s love interests in Season 5, and she and Naya
performed a beautiful duet of The Beatles’ hit “Here Comes the Sun.”
Since Naya’s passing, Demi took to Instagram to remember this moment and this performance
sharing some photos of the two of them writing quote, “I’ll forever cherish the opportunity
to play your girlfriend on Glee.
The character you played was groundbreaking for tons of closeted queer girls (like me
at the time) and open queer girls, and your ambition and accomplishments were inspiring
to Latina women all over the world.
My heart goes out to your loved ones at this time.”
Which brings us to our next point, aside from her incredible singing voice, Naya’s role
in Glee was a stand out for being a big part of the LGBTQ+ movement.
Though her character Santana was tough on the outside, fans loved her for how vulnerable
and open she was about her sexuality.
(5) One scene in particular that made fans fall
in love with Sanata was when she candidly came out to the rest of the cheerios.
Sadly this scene was ultimately cut from the original episode, but it’s been uploaded
online and we wanted to make sure it got the highlight and praise it deserves.
“It’s no secret that Brittany and I are together.
At first I thought it was a phase, you know just a fun thing that would eventually go
away but I guess what I’ve realized is that I am gay.
It’s who I am.”
And of course, it wasn’t complete without a little Santana sass.
“And if you don’t like it that’s fine, feel free to tell me, but it doesn’t change
the fact that I’m a natural born leader and I’m not afraid to cut a bitch.”
Speaking of coming out, one of Naya’s most memorable performances was when Santana first
started coming to terms with her feelings for Brittany.
They did a beautiful rendition of the song “Landslide” with guest star Gwyneth Paltrow.
Gwyneth actually shared this performance on social media after learning about Naya’s
passing writing quote, “Remembering beautiful @nayarivera today.
Getting to sing in this trio with her was such a special moment.
I am in utter shock and disbelief that someone so full of life and passion and talent is
no longer with us.
And completely heartbroken for her family.”
And fans shared their fond memories of this scene like this person who wrote “This performance
was, and still is, so important to me as a young LGBTQ teen, and I basically credit it
with realizing I was a lesbian.
Thank you for this moment.”
Another fan chimed in saying “this movement saved, helped, and changed so many lives.
She helped accept thousands of people.
Naya helped more people than she could ever imagine.”
And last but not least on the Glee front, now in tragic hindsight, Naya did a beautiful
and emotional cover of the Band Perry songs “If I Die Young”, as a tribute to co-star
Cory Monteith.
In case you don’t remember, Cory also tragically passed away way too young.
In July of 2013, Cory died from a toxic combination of heroin and alcohol in a Vancouver hotel
room.
And oddly enough, Naya’s body was found on the 7th anniversary of Cory’s death.
So watching this performance now is even more heartbreaking.
Naya had countless other memorable performances with her fellow cast mates like the rendition
of “River Deep, Mountain High” with Amber Riley, her performance of Amy Winehouse’s
“Valerie” with the whole cast, and her Smooth Criminal face off with Grant Gustin.
If you haven’t seen all of those performances, please do yourself a favor and go watch them.
Each one is better than the last.
And after her time on Glee, Naya went on to make numerous guest appearances on other shows
like Devious Maids, American Dad, and our personal favorite, RuPaul’s Drag Race.
She was a guest star and guest judge on the reality show back in 2017 for the iconic episode,
Good Morning B*tches.
“I’m incredibly jealous of your a*s”
While she was hilarious and made herself comfortable in the presence of so many queens…
“Please welcome our special guest actress and singer, Naya Rivera, Good morning Naya!
Good morning bitches.”
She also got real with the Drag Race cast about how she got more screen time as Santana
on Glee.
When I first started on Glee I didn’t have like any lines.
So I would just sit in the back of that classroom and like roll my neck and do anything I could
to get that camera on me and it worked.”
And of course, she also talked about her book.
Which brings us to our next point.
Naya wrote a both funny and deeply personal book called Sorry Not Sorry.
In the book she talks about all her victories and missteps, urging young women to pursue
their dreams and to refuse to let past mistakes define them.
And Naya opens up about everything from her Glee days to her relationship with Big Sean
to why being a mom changed her life.
“I just think that being a mom puts everything into perspective especially when you do the
things that we do for a living.
I know that at the end of the day I come home and he just loves love and nothing else matters.”
Speaking of motherhood, our 10th and final moment we’ll be talking about is the most
important of all.
It was Naya’s role as a mom and how special she and her son’s bond clearly was.
It’s been reported that her final act was saving her son’s life by getting him back
on the boat, though as we now know, Naya was unable to make it back on the boat.
Naya’s co-star Amber Riley shared this incredibly sweet, yet heartbreaking clip of Naya and
her son Josey singing together.
We continue to send our love and support to Naya’s family and loved ones during this
difficult and devastating time.
For more details on Naya’s cause of death, click right over here to watch another Clevver
video.
Be sure to share some love to Naya’s family and friends down in the comments below and
feel free to share your favorite memory of her.
I’m your host Sussan Mourad bye guys.