Andrew Gold

A member of the bands Bryndle and 10cc offshoot Wax, singer-songwriter and musician Andrew Gold found fame as a hit-making solo artist. ∙ Gold played multiple instruments on and contributed arrangements to Linda Ronstadt’s chart-topping 1974 LP Heart Like a Wheel, including her No. 1 song “You’re No Good.” ∙ His global breakthrough as a solo artist came with 1977’s “Lonely Boy,” a hit in multiple countries that reached No. 7 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100. ∙ “Thank You for Being a Friend,” which had modest success in 1978, became well known in the 1980s as the theme song for the sitcom The Golden Girls. ∙ In addition to playing on songs by Art Garfunkel, Eric Carmen, and Cher, Gold cowrote “I Saw the Light,” a No. 1 Country hit for Wynonna Judd in 1992. ∙ “Spooky, Scary Skeletons,” which he originally released on a 1996 holiday album, became a viral sensation in the 2010s, thanks to its popularity in dance remixes and memes.