Lea Michele Is Holding Memories of Cory Monteith Close to Her Heart on 10th Anniversary of Death

It’s been ten years since Cory Monteith died at the age of 31. Over the past decade, the Glee star has received tributes from a host of his cast members, including Lea Michele, who is feeling his loss heavily on the anniversary of his death. The actress shared an old black and white photo of herself with Monteith on Instagram with a moving caption reflecting on life without him.

“Hey you. 10 years. It feels like only yesterday that you were here and yet a million years ago all at the same time,” Michele wrote. “I hold all of our memories in my heart where they will stay safe and never forgotten. We miss you every day and will never forget the light you to brought to us all. I miss you big guy. I hope you found Taylor up there and are playing the drums together.”

The actress was seemingly referencing Taylor Hawkins, the late Foo Fighters drummer who died last year at age 50. Back in 2011, Glee director Ryan Murphy found himself at odds with the band when they declined to approve the use of their music in the series.

Michele has made a point of paying tribute to Monteith on July 13 every year. Usually, her posts consist of a simply photo captioned with a red heart emoji. Occasionally, she’ll add a brief message, like when she wrote “The light always remains” in 2019. It’s a notion that runs through her tributes. In 2018, on the fifth anniversary of his death, she wrote: “There are some who bring a light so great to the world, that even after they have gone, the light remains.”

On July 13, 2013, Monteith was discovered in his hotel room at Vancouver’s Fairmount Pacific Rim Hotel after the actor missed his scheduled checkout time. His cause of death was later revealed to be mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol.

From Rolling Stone US.