The American Spectator

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Gold died of a heart attack on Friday. He was 59.

Gold first attracted notice with his work on Linda Ronstadt’s 1974 breakthrough album Heart Like a Wheel. He played nearly every instrument on her number one hit “You’re No Good.”

He subsequently landed his own record deal and had two hits of his own in the late 1970’s - “Lonely Boy” and “Thank You For Being a Friend.” The latter hit, of course, would become the theme song for NBC sitcom The Golden Girls (with vocals done by Cynthia Fee.) All the while, Gold continued to provide back up vocals for Ronstadt’s albums throughout the 1970’s and into the 1980’s.

In the early 1980’s, Gold was invited to join the British band 10cc but declined their offer. However, he would eventually join forces with 10cc’s Graham Gouldman to form the duo Wax, an act which had several hits in the U.K. and on the European charts.

In later years, Gold composed music for movies and television most notably “The Final Frontier”, the theme song for the NBC sitcom Mad About You.