The singer Ari Gold has died at the age of 47 following a battle with cancer. RuPaul, who was a friend and mentor to Gold, was among the first to mark his passing yesterday and offer condolences online.
“Until we meet again, dear friend. @SirAriGold Love always, Ru,” he said on Twitter and Instagram.
Until we meet again, dear friend. @SirAriGold Love always, Ru. pic.twitter.com/Rin7NFetoX
— RuPaul (@RuPaul) February 14, 2021
Another friend, Len Evans, posted on Facebook, “I’m so heartbroken to hear that Ari Gold lost his battle to cancer today. He was a friend and someone I’ve known for 20 + years and a trailblazer in the LGBTQ community. Such a sad ending to a beautiful, talented happy soul. 💔 Love you, Ari!”
Gold was born and raised in the Bronx to an orthodox Jewish family. At the age of just five, he was already demonstrating a precocious talent, winning the First Annual Jewish Children’s Song Festival. This led to him singing on kids’ TV themes, cartoons and commercials.
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Related: Sir Ari Gold on the lack of American queer pop stars and why he’ll never get a “real job”
In the late 1990s, Gold began performing his own material in NYC venues and clubs such as Joe’s Pub, Splash, and Pyramid, before releasing his self-titled debut album in 2001. His pop and R’n’B influenced songs were explicitly queer in their content.
His second album, Space Under The Sun, came out in 2004, followed by a remixes album in 2005, with the likes of ‘Wave of You’, ‘Love Wasn’t Built in a Day’, and ‘Where the Music Takes You’ becoming dancefloor hits. He undertook nationwide tours, became a Pride festival staple, and worked with the likes of Kevin Aviance and Boy George.
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Gold released seven albums during his career, including some under the monikers Sir Ari and GoldNation.
Gold underwent treatment for leukemia in 2019 and was later declared cancer-free. He made a podcast, A Kiki From the Cancer Ward, in which he interviewed friends who had visited him or shown support.
On an episode in which he interviewed RuPaul, Gold said, “Ru became the closest thing I’ve known to a mentor. I couldn’t tell you how many hours on the phone we’d spend where I would vomit out my perceived problems of the moment and Ru would give me a more evolved, spiritual perspective.” In return, Gold offered RuPaul advice on independently releasing music.
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Performer Peppermint said on Instagram, “Ari, You came into my life before I even knew who you were. Listening to you on some of my favorite morning cartoons as a little kid. I never would have dreamed that we’d not only become close friends later but be tied together through our love of music Madonna and Wonder Woman. you inspired and mentored me in ways that you will never know. Right now I so desperately want the world to know everything you did. I want them to celebrate you. You understood and were open and you got it before anyone else ever did and I love you for always centering me.”
Laverne Cox said: “I’m so utterly devastated that you’ve moved on today. But I know you’ll be watching over me as you always have. I’m so grateful to have known you. I’m better because you have been a part of my life. My brother! I love you so much! Rest in Power!!”
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Drag performer Lady Bunny also posted on Facebook, “Very sorry to learn that singer/songwriter Ari Gold has passed. I’ll always remember him as a sweetheart of the NYC club scene. He had been ill for quite a few years, and that’s all the details I know. His birthday was just on February the 11th. Farewell!”
Very sorry to learn that singer/songwriter Ari Gold has passed. I'll always remember him as a sweetheart of the NYC club…
Posted by Lady Bunny on Sunday, February 14, 2021
I think we only ever spent a few hours in each other’s company, but he was very supportive and his beautiful energy stayed with me. Incredibly sad to see this. #RIPAriGold https://t.co/J6mzB7XQAF
— Randy Rainbow (@RandyRainbow) February 14, 2021
.@SirAriGold was an extraordinary talent. He was a fearless fighter. And he was my friend. I’ll miss him. #RIP pic.twitter.com/V8XwpcpsWp
— Larry Flick (@LarryFlick) February 14, 2021
o.codone
Cute guy. Apparently well loved by his friends. Fu_ck cancer. RIP.
Kangol2
Sad news about a real talent. Wasn’t he Billy Porter’s boyfriend at one point?
Doug
Wow, he was so young to die. So many talented people I grew up watching have passed away in the last couple of months.
jdr11201
I, can’t believe this.,
The good ones always leave us. RIP Ari, you will always be in our hearts.?, ?, ?
mz.sam
Very sad news…thanks for the posting. I remember his career journey and success, RIP. Of course, most under 40….Ari, who??
RyanMBecker
Although I’m a New Yorker, I have no idea who he is. Maybe it’s my age (20s), maybe it’s my sexual orientation. But this bio has made me curious and his genre sounds like the type of music I’d like. I’ll be exploring his music tonight. I hope his music is available for download.
lambchopp59
Another of our community’s great advocates gone. Here on the west coast, Ari’s music turned heads, softened some people’s judgmental status about LGBTQ, I watched it happen, via Ari’s lyrics many that expressed exactly my inner struggle in music that pops.
Ari left immortalized words, far more than this snippet:
Take me someplace where the core of me
Isn’t up for debate
Take me elsewhere
So I can escape this hate
I’m being the best with what I got
I’m taking the test every day I’m not
These are the thoughts that are in my head
They are held together
By a thin thread
radiooutmike
I think I only know him from watching the past few seasons of Drag Race?!
Another tragic loss.
Nancy Joyzee
I met him in New Hope when he performed at the now-defunct NeverMore club. He was charming friendly, sweet and Oh So Sexy, He Gave a great performance and had drinks with us. I will miss this talented man.
darkanser
Wow!!! I can remember just recently watching his video about coming out to his family on the YouTube’s I’m From Driftwood series. Such a shame!! Died way too young.
whateverokok
The only groundbreaking thing about Ari is the ground underneath him. Edie Brickell and New Bohemians literally just put a new album out (today as a matter of fact) and this trash music is what people are praising. No wonder this world’s in bad shape. People have no taste and they’ve lost their da-n marbles.
Hdtex
Can we swap you for Ari? People loved him, where you seem like a miserable POS. Feel free to leave.