Nick Cordero’s posthumous album brought a smile to his 1-year-old son Elvis’ face in a new adorable video his widow, Amanda Kloots, shared on Instagram Friday. The Broadway actor’s Live Your Life: Live at Feinstein’s/54 Below was released on Thursday, which would have been Cordero’s 42nd birthday, and shot to number one on the iTunes album chart. Cordero, who also appeared in Blue Bloods and earned a Tony nomination for Bullets Over Broadway, died on July 5 from complications of COVID-19.
After Elvis was born, Kloots started Musical Mornings, where she would put music on as she and Cordero started their day. “Most days music plays in the house 24/7. It’s an instant mood shift, energy lifter, motivation, and inspiration in our home. I want Elvis to know the importance of music,” Kloots wrote. “HOORAY FOR MUSIC!”
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In the video, Elvis is seen sitting in a high chair while a song from Live Your Life plays. As he heard his father’s voice, Elvis began to smile. “This is Elvis this morning listening to Nick’s album,” Kloots wrote. “Whenever I play Nick’s songs he hears his voice and stops in his tracks and does this, gets a big smile on his face. Thank GOD we have music! Thank God!”
The success of Cordero’s album was the “best birthday gift Nick could have ever got,” Kloots wrote on Instagram Friday. The day before, she shared a heartbreaking message, alongside photos from Cordero’s birthday party in 2019. “My angel in heaven is celebrating his birthday today,” Kloots wrote. “Happy 42nd Birthday baby. I bet you’re having quite the celebration up there, probably singing to everyone. Elvis and I will be singing here on earth to you.”
Many other celebrities who knew Cordero also shared tributes Thursday, including his close friend Zach Braff, who got a tattoo in Cordero’s memory in August. “I can’t believe he’s gone. He was so kind. He was so happy,” the Scrubs actor wrote of Cordero. “He was so excited to be a dad and a husband. Here’s to a beautiful human being taken too soon. Maybe he’s up there watching musicals with my Dad.”
Cordero was hospitalized at the end of March and tested positive for the coronavirus. Although he did test negative later, he remained hospitalized for more than 90 days before his death. Kloots and Cordero married in 2017 and welcomed Elvis in June 2019. On the day of their anniversary, Kloots released “Not Far Away,” a song Cordero began and she finished to create their first duet.
