For the first time, St. Pete Pride will have a national headlining act on the main stage during its June 25 street festival on Central Avenue. Sir Ari Gold is an out award-winning recording artist featured on Logo and praised by People Magazine. His St. Pete Pride performance will be his first appearance on Florida's west coast, but it is far from his first experience with an LGBT Pride celebration.
â┚¬Å”I experienced my first Pride when I was maybe 19 or 20 years old,â┚¬Â Gold says from his New York home. â┚¬Å”It was great to be a part of it and to see so many people celebrating who they were. I grew up thinking I couldn't tell anyone I was gay, but here were people having fun and being proud. I thought it was great.â┚¬ÂÂ
Gold also appeared as a headliner for New York City Pride Kick-off earlier this month. The exposure has been great for the NYC native, whose fourth studio album, Between the Sprit & the Flesh was released in late May.
Gold's rise to music fame began at age 5 when he was discovered singing at his brother's bar-mitzva. He went on to sing over 400 jingles as a child vocalist and even recorded Jewish children's songs like 613 Torah Avenue and Uncle Moishe. He released his first album in 2000 and is largely considered the first openly gay pop singer to be out in his music from the start of his career.
â┚¬Å”I think there are unique challenges to starting out in this industry so young,â┚¬Â the hopelessly single year-old says. â┚¬Å”I feel I had a good training ground as a child being in the studio all the time, but there's a price to pay. It's odd being a child and responsible for the income of the adults. That's a big responsibility for a child to haveâ┚¬â€Âand showbiz can be a harsh world for a kid.â┚¬ÂÂ
Add to that pressure was growing up gay in a religious Jewish family. But Gold is happy with his decision to come out so early in his career. He says his family has been supportive of him and that anyone who grew up in a religious homeâ┚¬â€Âregardless of the religion followedâ┚¬â€Âhas similar stories.
â┚¬Å”I think there are so many LGBT people who grow up in religious families that most people can relate to what I'm talking about,â┚¬Â Gold says. â┚¬Å”Whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Mormon or whatever, it can be challenging when you feel an attachment and love for the religion or tradition and culture you come from and that culture doesn't accept that part of you that is so intrinsic to who you are.â┚¬ÂÂ
Gold believes that by being out, he can inspire others to be who they areâ┚¬â€Âwhether they ever take the stage or not.
â┚¬Å”It's amazing to have the fans be able to see me and see themselves reflected back,â┚¬Â he says.
Besides performing at a young age, Gold wrote his first songs at a young age. When he was 14 he penned a song about his girlfriend, Dahlia.
â┚¬Å”One of the first songs I wrote was called Experienced Girl and it was about my girlfriend Dahlia who was one year older so I guess she had a bit more â┚¬Ëœexperience' than me,â┚¬Â he says. â┚¬Å”I ended up singing my song Bashert (Meant to Be) at her traditional Orthodox lesbian wedding.â┚¬ÂÂ
