Andrew Gold's blog

A multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, arranger, and solo artist, Andrew Gold played a pivotal role in the Southern California musical scene that spawned such Elektra/Asylum superstars as Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and the Eagles.

The scion of a Hollywood musical family – his father was Academy Award-winning film composer Ernest Gold, his mother famed playback singer Marni Nixon – Gold was a member of the influential L.A.-based folk-rock band, Bryndle, alongside Karla Bonoff, Wendy Waldman, and former Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards. In 1974, he began collaborating with another erstwhile member of the Stone Poneys in Ronstadt, for whom he would serve as de-facto musical director on three consecutive Billboard 200 #1 albums.

Asylum released Gold’s self-titled solo debut in 1975 to widespread critical acclaim. He scored his first top 10 hit the next year with “Lonely Boy,” featuring Ronstadt on backing vocals. In 1978, Gold returned to the pop charts with “Thank You For Being A Friend,” later to become famous as the theme song to NBC’s beloved sitcom, The Golden Girls.

In addition to his multi-platinum work with Ronstadt, Gold has played with, written songs for, or produced a veritable who’s who of pop, including Art Garfunkel, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, James Taylor, Stephen Bishop, 10cc, Cher, and Carly Simon. What’s more, in 1996 his became the first human voice to be broadcast on Mars when his rendition of “The Final Frontier” – aka the theme song to the Paul Reiser/Helen Hunt sitcom, Mad About You – was used to wake up the Mars Pathfinder space probe.