Naya Rivera’s memory will always live on through her son, Josey.
On Sunday, August 15, the late Glee actress’ 5-year-old son sang Michael Jackson’s popular track, “Man in the Mirror.” The toddler’s dad, Ryan Dorsey, showed fans clips of the cute performance on his Instagram Story, showing their son takes after his mother’s love of music. Dorsey shared footage of the youngster as he performed the 1988 hit to a karaoke track, also showing his son strumming the guitar.
Upon seeing the footage, fans immediately compared Josey’s musical talents to his mom, who rose to fame as singing cheerleader Santana Lopez on Glee. Of course, she also starred in the tribute episode to Michael Jackson in 2012, performing her own rendition of “Smooth Criminal.”
Unsurprisingly, this isn‘t the first time Josey has shown off his own performing prowess, also previously revealing his love for the late King of Pop. In October 2020, Ryan posted videos of his son dancing to “Smooth Criminal” and “They Don’t Care About Us.”
It‘s been a little over a year since Naya’s untimely death in July 2020, when she suffered from an accidental drowning during a boating trip with her son. At the time, Josey told police she managed to save him by helping him back into the boat while they were swimming. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any strength left to pull herself up. Authorities later found him on the boat alone wearing a life vest.
Last month, on the anniversary of her funeral, Ryan paid tribute to Rivera, who he was married to from 2014 to 2018.
“Our boy has grown so much,” he wrote in a sweet message to her on Instagram. “He‘s such an explorer, so inquisitive. He’s sweet, so funny, and his laugh always lights up the room. He’s an intuitive soul to say the least. To know him is to love him, everyone that meets him is always smiling.”
He continued, “He’s doing ok. He’s such a resilient strong kid. He misses you but knows he’ll see you again, and the invisible string is something that’s helped us out during this ever-evolving transition of your time with us on earth that was unfairly & for reasons we’ll never understand cut short…too soon.”
