Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Israel News

The Other Ari Gold

Ari Gold is a real person, not just a television character. But the openly gay R&B singer-songwriter, who happens to share a name with a character on the HBO series “Entourage,” knows a little something about the search for personal identity, and he doesn’t let the coincidence get in the way of his artistic goal: making music with a message. Gold was raised in an Orthodox family in the Bronx, and he attended yeshiva through high school and beyond. His forthcoming album, “Transport Systems,” examines issues ranging from gay relationships and spirituality to drug addiction and human rights.

“The social and political issues [in my music] come from my personal experience of being a gay man. It makes you automatically political just by talking about your life,” Gold told The Shmooze. “One thing that influences my feelings about [being openly gay] is the concept of hiding and the history of Jews having to hide who they were… yet they still found ways to practice their beliefs. It was a very powerful message to me.”

“Transport Systems” will be released October 2, but those looking for a preview can see Gold perform September 4 at Joe’s Pub in New York.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.