POP SINGER-SONGWRITER ARI GOLD DIED

​Ari Gold (February 11, 1974 – February 14, 2021) was born and raised in The Bronx, New York. He was openly gay and regularly addressed both his being Jewish and gay and also starred in an autobiographical theater production Ari Gold – Untitled: The Making of a Gay Pop Star. Gold died from leukemia at age 47.
Born to an Orthodox Jewish family. He was discovered while singing at his brother Steven's bar mitzvah at the age of five. He was awarded top prize alongside Steven and his other brother future comedian Elon at the First Annual Jewish Children's Song Festival. Gold landed his first job as a professional singer and actor by performing the lead role on the CBS Children's recording Pot Belly Bear: Song and Stories. The album went platinum and led to his successful career as a child vocalist. He sang over 400 jingles, provided various voices for Cabbage Patch Kids, and cult favorite Jem providing vocals for the song "A Father Should Be." by Starlight Girl Ba Nee which appeared in the episodes The Jem Jam Part 1 and the final episode A Father Should Be.
After graduating from the Ramaz School in Manhattan, Gold studied at Yale University. He then transferred and received his BA from New York University. Gold took full advantage of his surroundings in New York City and began performing original music at Joe's Pub, Fez, China Club, Barracuda, Metronome, Avalon, Pyramid, Splash, Bar d'O, Starlight, and CBGB's. He recorded the material for his self-titled 2001 debut album. His debut included explicit gay love songs. The album won Gold at the 2002 Outmusic Award for Outstanding Debut Recording. Later that year, Gold was named one of Genre Magazine's "Men We Love".
Gold was an American pop singer and songwriter. He also performed back-up vocals for Diana Ross. RuPaul, whom Gold had described as a mentor, was among those to express condolences on social media. His debut also caught the attention of songwriter Desmond Child. Their first collaboration "I'm All About You" (Island Universal) was on the top 20 UK pop charts and a top 10 dance hit. The song was co-written and produced with UK garage musicians DJ Luck and MC Neat.
Gold appeared in fashion magazines such as W and VIBE, for which he was photographed by Walter Chin, and chosen as one of the Stylistics in the January 2002 issue. He was named one of "The 9 Hottest Men in NYC" by H/X magazine and one of the hottest men in the world by DNA magazine. After interviewing and photographing Gold for AXM magazine, Boy George chose him to be the spokesmodel for his clothing line RUDE.