He also hit the UK charts in 1978 with Never Let Her Slip Away which reached number 5.
Gold was also a prolific session musician who hailed from a musical family. His father Earnest Gold was an Academy Award winning composer, and his mother was a singer who provided the singing voice for well know actresses including Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Wood.
He began writing songs at the age of 13, and by the early 1970s was working as a musician, songwriter and producer for many well-known stars, including Linda Ronstadt and Art Garfunkel.
In 1975 Gold began recording as a solo artist, releasing four studio albums. Although Lonely Boy was the bigger radio hit - and not the autobiographical story as one may think - Thank You for Being A Friend gained new popularity as the theme song for the popular 80's sitcom The Golden Girls.
