TIME Magazine

While working on his own songs, Gold was also able to amass writing and performance credits for some of the music industry's biggest names: Art Garfunkel, Brian Wilson, Don Henley, Cher, and three Beatles all number as artists with whom Gold worked. He also co-wrote the number one single "I Saw The Light" for Wynonna Judd.

Gold's work also breached the atmosphere; he recorded the original version of the song "Final Frontier" for the sitcom Mad About You. This track was used as the wake-up song for the 1996 Mars Pathfinder rover.

New York Times

Mr. Gold's combination of instrumental versatility and songwriting skill gave him a prominent if sometimes invisible role in shaping the Los Angeles-dominated pop-rock style of the 1970s. In addition to his instrumental and arranging work for Ms. Ronstadt's breakout 1974 album, "Heart Like a Wheel", Mr. Gold was a much sought after musician whose guitar and piano work (he also played bass and drums) helped define the seamless texture of recordings by artists like James Taylor, Carly Simon, Maria Muldaur, Jackson Browne and Loudon Wainwright III.

Though he was considered a masterly musician, he never learned to read music. "We gave him lessons on piano and guitar, but somehow he found it easier to just listen to something and play it by ear", said Mr. Gold's mother, the singer Marni Nixon.

People Magazine

The L.A. native began writing songs at age 13. By the early 1970s, he was working as a musician, songwriter and record producer. He was a member of the Los Angeles band Bryndle. In 1975, Gold set out on a solo career and released four albums during that decade.

The year 1975 also marked Gold's successful collaboration with Art Garfunkel. He played all the instruments on Garfunkel's No. 1 UK hit, "I Only Have Eyes For You."

Wendy Waldman

The general public does not know that Andrew was one of the most gifted musicians of our times-he was, without a doubt, a genius. He had a photographic 'ear', if I can say that. He would hear something, down to the subtlest inversion or nuance--and capture it perfectly. As a kid he was a tremendous Beatles fan, and he studied, and absorbed, perfectly, their entire catalog. He was the only person I ever knew who could truly and perfectly reproduce the exact voicings, licks, settings, precise instrument used, everything--in a Beatles tune, a Byrds tune, in a Beach Boys tune, a Led Zeppelin tune or anything else that really rocked his world--long before the internet, cds, or any way to take pop music apart except by ear. He listened to everything under the sun, and absorbed with a terrifying accuracy--it was something I always admired and found fascinating about him. He and I shared all kinds of music with each other, as we did with Kenny Edwards--and Andrew had a habit of falling in love with certain songs, and going as deeply as anyone can into learning how that music was constructed--and also, shouting to the world that this was something everyone needed to hear.

The Independent

US singer-songwriter Andrew Gold, famous for 1970s hits "Lonely Boy" and "Thank You for Being a Friend," which was used as the theme music for the hit US TV show "The Golden Girls," has died aged 59, his family said.

Gold, whose other songs included "Never Let Her Slip Away," was also a music producer, a respected session musician as well as a member of Linda Ronstadt's band.

Millions were familiar with Gold's work after "Thank You for Being a Friend" was covered for the theme of the long-running "Golden Girls."