Remembering happier times. Naya Rivera was pronounced dead on Monday, July 13, at the age of 33 after being reported missing on Wednesday, July 8. Her 4-year-old son, Josey, was found on a boat she had rented in Lake Piru near Los Angeles, but the actress was not on board. In honor of Rivera, Us Weekly is looking back at the 33-year-old star’s most memorable performances.
The singer is best known for her role as Santana Lopez, the fiery cheerleader on Fox’s Glee. She starred in the series for all six seasons, appearing in 99 of the 121 episodes. During her time on the show, she performed multiple extremely powerful numbers.
During season 2, Santana revealed her feelings to Brittany Pierce (Heather Morris) for the first time by singing a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” Morris joined in on the number, as did Gwyneth Paltrow, who was guest-starring in the episode as Holly Holiday.
The following season, Santana joined forces with Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) and Brittany for an epic mashup of Adele‘s “Rumor Has It” and “Someone Like You.” The performance is one of the best of the series and the episode is a memorable one — at the end, Santana slaps Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) when she thinks he’s talking about her bisexuality.
Many of Rivera’s collaborations are impressive, including her “Smooth Criminals” duet with Grant Gustin‘s Sebastian during season 3 and her collaboration with Demi Lovato‘s Dani, singing “Here Comes the Sun” in season 5.
During season 5 of Glee, the cast was faced with the shocking death of Monteith, who died in 2013 from an overdose at age 31. In turn, the character of Finn was killed off the show. During the emotional hour, Rivera performed a tearful cover of The Band Perry‘s “If I Die Young.”
For more of Rivera’s memorable performances, watch the video above.
