The wife of late actor Chadwick Boseman paid an emotional tribute to her late husband during the broadcast of Stand Up to Cancer on Saturday night.
Simone Ledward-Boseman, a classically-trained vocalist, performed the standard “I’ll Be Seeing You” in tribute to the Black Panther star, who died of colon cancer in August of 2020 at the age of 43.
The widow was introduced by event host and actor Anthony Anderson, who noted, “Many of us were devastated to learn of Chadwick Boseman’s tragic passing after he privately grappled with cancer for several years.”
“The world lost an incredible artist and a true hero. But before he was a public figure, he was a person like you or me — a son, a brother, uncle, cousin, friend, colleague, husband,” Anderson continued. “Many of us are all too familiar with the fracture a dearly loved one’s passing leaves in the lives of those who love them. Here to perform a song about living with the reality of loss and finding a way forward is Chadwick’s wife, Simone.”
A graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Ledward-Boseman has a bachelor’s degree in music industry studies. She performed with her university’s jazz band.
Written by Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal in 1938, “I’ll Be Seeing You” has been covered by the likes of late greats like Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, plus longtime crooner Tony Bennett.
“I’ll be seeing you in all the old familiar places that this heart of mine embraces all day through,” the song’s lyrics begin. Its sweet poetics end with: “I’ll find you in the morning sun and when the night is new, I’ll be looking at the moon, but I’ll be seeing you.”
Stand Up to Cancer is an annual event that raises money for cancer research. This year, several of Boseman’s Marvel costars — including Danai Gurira, Chris Evans and Paul Rudd — participated in the production.
Earlier this week, fans got to hear Boseman’s final vocal performance in Marvel’s What If…?, an animated series that features several Marvel stars. Producer Brad Winderbaum said, “[Boseman] really approached the material as seriously and as soulfully as I imagine he approached any of his work.”
He added that Boseman reportedly recorded multiple versions of T’Challa for the series, “and each one was just a nuanced performance based on a lot of deep thought you could tell from his part and how we wanted to portray the character.”
Boseman died nearly one year ago, on Aug. 28, 2020, after a private four-year battle with colon cancer. Winderbaum noted “it was frankly so humbling to know that he spent any time working with us” amid his ailing health.
This article features reporting from theGrio’s Ny Magee.
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