‘Miss you every day’: Steve Van Zandt celebrates late Sopranos co-star James Gandolfini’s birthday

Steve Van Zandt has wished the late actor James Gandolfini a happy birthday.

The guitarist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band starred in The Sopranos as mafia consigliere Silvio Dante opposite Gandolfini.

While the series ended in 2007, Van Zandt remained friends with his co-star until the celebrated actor’s death in 2013. Gandolfini, who played mob boss Tony Soprano, was 51 at the time.

On Sunday (18 September), on what would have been the Emmy award-winners 60th birthday, Van Zandt posted a photo to Twitter of the friends sitting with their arms draped around each other’s shoulders.

Alongside the throwback image, Van Zandt wrote, “Happy Birthday Jimmy. Miss you every day.”

When Gandolfini died while vactioning in Italy, Van Zandt was among his friends and colleagues to immediately pay tribute online.

“I have lost a brother and a best friend,” he wrote at the time. “The world has lost one of the greatest actors of all time.”

Lorraine Bracco, who played Tony’s therapist on the series, also recently reflected on the unexpected death of Gandolfini, as well as her former co-stars Ray Liotta and Tony Sirico.

Speaking to US talk show host Rachael Ray, Bracco said last week: “It says to me, to live every day as well and as much and give, give, give.”

“I adored all three of them.”