Andrew Maurice Gold (August 2, 1951 – June 3, 2011) was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop/soft rock sound in the 1970s.

During the 1990s, Gold produced, composed, performed on and wrote tracks for films, commercials, and television soundtracks, such as "Final Frontier", the theme of the sitcom Mad About You.

Some of his older works experienced newfound popularity: "Thank You for Being a Friend" sung by another performer was used as the opening theme for The Golden Girls, and the children's novelty song "Spooky, Scary Skeletons" (1996) became an Internet meme in the 2010s.

His mother was singer Marni Nixon, who provided the singing voice for numerous actresses, notably Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady; his father was Ernest Gold, an Austrian-born composer who won an Academy Award for his score for the movie Exodus.

He was a member of the Los Angeles band Bryndle, alongside Kenny Edwards, Wendy Waldman, and Karla Bonoff, releasing the single "Woke Up This Morning" in 1970.

Gold's second studio album, What's Wrong with This Picture?, was released in 1976 and featured the hit single "Lonely Boy", which reached No.

[8] Although "Lonely Boy" was the bigger radio hit in the States, the single "Thank You for Being a Friend" from Gold's third album, All This and Heaven Too, peaked at No.

In 1981, Gold produced, co-wrote, sang and played on three 10cc tracks that appeared on the hit-making pop-rock band's 1981 album Ten Out of 10.

It features covers of "Monster Mash" and the themes from The Addams Family and Ghostbusters, plus nine original songs, including "Spooky, Scary Skeletons", which regained popularity from the 2010s onwards as an Internet meme.

He produced, composed, and/or wrote tracks for numerous films, such as the comedy Rectuma from director Mark Pirro, and contributed songs to many television soundtracks and commercials.

[13] The show featured Gold performing "Thank You for Being a Friend," "Final Frontier," "Bridge to Your Heart," and "Lonely Boy," as well as accompanying America and Bishop on guitar and vocals.

In the early 2010s, Gold's song "Spooky Scary Skeletons" became the subject of Halloween-related Internet memes through its popularity on 4chan's video games board.

[15][better source needed] Within a few years, the song turned into a viral phenomenon, with numerous highly viewed remixes and dance tutorials for it being posted on YouTube; it was described by New York magazine in 2019 as the "Internet's Halloween anthem".

The song also became highly popular on the social media site TikTok, with videos including it receiving several hundred million views.

[20] Although Gold put personal references in the lyrics to "Lonely Boy" (including his year of birth), he said in an interview with author Spencer Leigh that the song was not autobiographical.