‘Glee’ Cast Shares Unreleased Naya Rivera Song 3 Years After Her Death

Nearly three-and-a-half years since Naya Rivera’s shocking and untimely death, a previously unreleased recording that the actress and singer made will help raise money for charity. Rivera recorded “Prayer for the Broken,” a dramatic ballad about rising above adversity, in 2012. “This is a prayer for the broken, for those who are afraid,” she sings over a mellow piano line. “This is a cry for this brave world, so beautiful and strange … It’s all so temporary.” Her former Glee castmates, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Amber Riley, Heather Morris, Vanessa Lengies, and Ashley Fink, added background vocals to the track.

For two weeks, proceeds from the song — composed by Lindy Robbins and Isaac Hasson — will benefit Alexandria House for its fourth annual Snixxmas Charity Fundraiser, launched in Rivera’s honor. (“Snixx” was a nickname for Rivera.) The organization hopes to raise $50,000 to aid homeless women and children in Los Angeles. The nonprofit is also collecting direct donations, separate from the song, on its website.

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Rivera, who was 33 when she died by drowning, joined the cast as a recurring character in Glee’s first season and became a full-time cast member in the show’s second. She also appeared in Glee: The 3D Concert Movie in 2011. Although she didn’t release an album in her lifetime — only the 2019 EP My Heart — she made an impact on iTunes’ classical chart by singing Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole” with 2Cellos and got on Billboard’s Rhythmic chart in 2013 with her own “Sorry,” which featured her then-boyfriend Big Sean. Rivera also participated in several Glee musical releases, including a duet cover of “The Boy Is Mine” with castmate Riley.

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