Out recording artist and performer Ari Gold, who also made music under the names Sir Ari and GoldNation, has died after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Out reports: “Gold had a battle with cancer and in late 2019 was declared cancer-free. The same day he received that diagnosis he did an interview with RuPaul for his podcast called A Kiki From the Cancer Ward. In the series, Gold was interviewing close friends and others who visited him while hospitalized — Ru's interview was the first conducted outside of the hospital, in the musician's Lower East Side apartment. According to him, Gold met Ru in 2002. Gold went on to later appear in Ru's film Starrbooty in 2007 as Tyrone Cohen.”
Adds Boy Culture: ‘Along with “Where the Music Takes You,” which was like his “Everybody,” some of his other memorable singles — all of them were Gold, thanks to his family name — included “See Through Me” (2001), “Wave of You” (2004; first video by an out LGBTQ artist to world-premiere on LOGO), “Love Wasn't Built in a Day” (feat. Dave Koz) (1007), “Human” (2008), “Make My Body Rock” (2010), “Play My F**kn Record” (2013) and his BingoBoys-on-Viagra tune “Sex Like a Pornstar” (2015), with its age-restricted video.'
RuPaul was one of the first of many to pay tribute to Gold on social media. Gold called RuPaul a “mentor” in the aforementioned 2019 podcast.
