Meg Toohey, Sara Bareilles, & the WAITRESS Band Pay Tribute to Nick Cordero with 'Lucky Streak'

In July of this year, Broadway actor Nick Cordero passed away due to complications of COVID-19. A Tony-nominated star who created leading roles in in Bullets Over Broadway, Waitress, and A Bronx Tale, Cordero entranced and inspired his audience as well as his fellow cast members. Now, Meg Toohey, Sara Bareilles, and the musicians who played alongside Cordero in the original Waitress have come together for "Lucky Streak," a stirring celebration of a life lost too soon.

"Lucky Streak" is a sweeping snapshot that captures Cordero's time in the bright lights of New York City and his life on the West Coast with his wife, Amanda Kloots, and their young son, Elvis. It is as much a remembrance of the vibrant actor and loving husband, father, and friend as it is a heartfelt appeal to carry on the love he left behind. "Don't regret throwing coins in a wishing well," sings Toohey in a reminder that we must risk our hearts to truly love at all.

Written and produced by Toohey, "Lucky Streak" offers a devastatingly beautiful tribute to someone who touched the lives of so many, as well as providing strength and solace to those who hold his memory close. Bareilles, who wrote Waitress, provides guests vocals on the track. Also appearing in the song are The Waitress Band: Nadia DiGiallonardo (piano), Rich Mercurio (drums), Lee Nadel (bass), Yair Evnine (strings/string arrangement), and Adam Kaufmann (organ).

"Nick was an incredibly vibrant and fun-loving guy," said Toohey. "He loved music and loved performing. He also loved hanging 'as one of us' in the band room at Waitress and would talk about his band and guitars. The entire cast and crew loved him dearly and he brought an incredible positive light to any experience he was part of."

Shortly after hearing the news that Cordero had passed, Toohey sat down to pour her heart out into her guitar. Within an hour, she sent a demo out to the fellow members of the original Waitress Band. Working remotely in their home studios (due to COVID-19), they came together to pay tribute to Cordero as well as send their love to Kloots. Finally, Bareilles offered her hauntingly beautiful harmonies to the track.

"Getting to sing on Meg Toohey's gorgeous tribute to our friend Nick was a gift," said Bareilles. "I wept as I sang. This song is cathartic...beautiful and bittersweet, and speaks of the pain of love and loss and the gentle universal truth that we must hold it all lightly and enjoy our lucky streaks; these perfectly imperfect lives. What a song."

Listen to "Lucky Streak" here: