Amber Riley Delivers Stunning Tribute Performance for Naya Rivera

From 2009 to 2015, Amber Riley co-starred alongside Naya Rivera on the Fox smash “Glee.” They rose to superstardom side by side and remained fast friends in the years since.

While Riley has honored her friend multiple times already via social media since Rivera’s tragic death by accidental drowning last month, she again took the time to pay tribute to her friend, this time in the language that was so much of both their lives, the language of music.

In stark black-and-white, Riley — who is going by that singular name professionally — gave a vocally stunning performance of “A Moment,” flanked by images from throughout Rivera’s life, including several images of the two together.

“My favorite duet partner. I love you. I miss you. I don’t have words right now, just lots of feelings,” Riley had posted to Instagram shortly after Rivera’s body was recovered from Lake Piru in California. “Rest In Peace Angel, and know that your family will never have to worry about anything.”

Clearly, Rivera wasn’t the only fallen friend on her mind. Shortly before her performance aired on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Riley responded to a fan sharing a 2009 tweet from Cory Monteith, who died seven years to the day before Rivera was officially declared dead.

“Amber…bring it,” he’d written then. Today, she responded, “I will, my friend. I will.” And she did.

She also admitted to how emotional the performance was for her on her Twitter feed, writing, “I didn’t make it 15 seconds before I was a puddle. I love you Naya. RIP Angel.”

The powerful performance quickly got Rivera’s name again trending on Twitter as fans flocked to join Riley in paying tribute to her life and legacy.

Kevin McHale was among the first to share his appreciate and joy at Riley honoring their dear friend, along with fellow alums Jenna Ushkowitz and Alex Newell. You can check out their and other reactions below:

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