Amanda Kloots Honors Late Husband Nick Cordero By Finishing One of His Last Projects

Julie Sprankles
·4 min read

Amanda Kloots has found an especially fitting and poignant way to honor her husband, Nick Cordero — she’s completing an original song the late Broadway star never got to finish. That means Cordero, who passed away last month from COVID-19 complications at the young age of 41, will soon share a posthumous duet with his wife. And not only is the process proving “therapeutic” for Kloots, but something also tells us there are few ways Cordero would want to be remembered more.

Kloots took to Instagram this week to share the meaningful project. “Tonight I got to work with musical legend Rickey Minor on a very special song, a Nick Cordero original,” she explained, continuing, “Rickey has been my great friend for years and I’ve watched him win Emmy’s, conduct the Oscars and work with every famous artist like Whitney Houston and Rhianna. Tonight, he said YES to working with me.”

As Kloots revealed, the song represented a catharsis of emotion for Cordero, too. “Nick wrote a song about his losing and missing his father, called ‘Not Far Away.’ He posted it on Instagram, but only wrote one verse and chorus. Our friend Maddox had the idea for me to write the second verse and then sing a duet with Nick. Rickey and @lennywee helped me, added our voices together, mixed and arranged it, then added beautiful strings and chimes to create this new duet.”

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Tonight I got to work with musical legend Rickey Minor on a very special song, a Nick Cordero original. Rickey has been my great friend for years and I’ve watched him win Emmy’s, conduct the Oscars and work with every famous artist like Whitney Houston and Rhianna. Tonight, he said YES to working with me. Nick wrote a song about his losing and missing his father, called Not Far Away. He posted it on Instagram, but only wrote one verse and chorus. Our friend Maddox had the idea for me to write the second verse and then sing a duet with Nick. Rickey and @lennywee helped me, added our voices together, mixed and arranged it, then added beautiful strings and chimes to create this new duet. This was one special night… I got to sing with Nick! It was hard living up to my husbands vocals but I closed my eyes and pretended we were onstage singing this song together. I cried a lot, but Rickey guided me through it every step of the way. I’m so grateful that I’ll have this song always and that Elvis will too. Thank you so much @rickeyminor and @lennywee for taking the time tonight to make me feel like a rockstar.

A post shared by AK! ⭐️ (@amandakloots) on Aug 26, 2020 at 11:27pm PDT

Understandably, it wasn’t an easy process for Kloots. Hearing her husband’s voice, missing him, wanting to make sure she did the song justice — it all made for an emotionally wrought experience.

“This was one special night… I got to sing with Nick! It was hard living up to my husband’s vocals but I closed my eyes and pretended we were onstage singing this song together,” she said, admitting, “I cried a lot, but Rickey guided me through it every step of the way. I’m so grateful that I’ll have this song always and that Elvis will too.” On her Instagram Stories, she elaborated that it was a “therapeutic” endeavor that “made me feel very close to Nick, like he was with me.”

Although it’s unclear when the duet will be released, we’re sure Kloots will keep fans posted. She routinely shares updates on memorials and productions honoring her late husband, keeping Cordero’s legacy alive. On Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. ET, Broadway On Demand will stream a memorial tribute. And on Sept. 17, what would have been Cordero’s 42nd birthday, a live recording of his last one-man cabaret show will be released.

Before you go, click here to reflect on all the stars we’ve lost in 2020.

Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner

Launch Gallery: All the Stars We've Lost in 2020

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