Golden Earring guitarist George Kooymans has passed away at age 77. He had ALS.
To be honest, I never was a huge fan of Golden Earring. And in particular his vocals never appealed to me.
But I have a huge amount of respect for him as musician and what he achieved with Golden Earring.
Although he had been ill for quite a while, his death is still quite a shock.
https://nltimes.nl/2025/07/23/george-kooymans-guitarist-dutch-rock-band-golden-earring-dies-77
RIP
Golden Earring were giants from a very small country.
I loved George's guitar playing, looks, singing and songwriting.
ALS is a vicious disease, I'm glad he's past it now.
Rest in peace.
Condolences to George's family and fans. Wishing Westen44 the best as well wherever he may be. I remember him being a big Golden Earring fan.
Thanks, 4Stringer77. I was hoping George would last a little longer. But it was not to be. First my mother, then George Kooymans and now I just found out about Dave. 2025 has not been a good year in the ways that really count. I'm definitely ready for this year to end.
Glad to see you checking in. Life goes by quick. I just have to remind myself to try and enjoy the ride while it lasts. Stay positive and have a good one.
Quote from: 4stringer77 on December 04, 2025, 08:07:29 AMGlad to see you checking in. Life goes by quick. I just have to remind myself to try and enjoy the ride while it lasts. Stay positive and have a good one.
Thanks. I explained to Dave why I needed to leave for a while. It had to do with complicated family matters. Dave had a way of understanding me in a way that most other people don't. Quite frankly, it helped me a lot. Now he is no longer here and I think this forum will suffer greatly. Probably more than most people realize.
Yesterday Dutch band DeWolff played an amazing tribute to George (and Golden Earring)
This is an up-to-date documentary and includes the death of George Kooymans. Overall, it's good, but there are a few pronunciation mistakes and other errors. I'm not sure if this narration was done by AI or what. Golden Earring documentaries like this are fairly rare in English so I'm posting it. It is fairly comprehensive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq5qHHkTS8c
What the documentary doesn't mention is one very important reason why they did not make it big in the USA:
They got home sick!
If they had stayed there longer they could have solidified their success. But they wanted to go home.
Back Home...😉
Radar Love and Twilight Zone I've always known, but that's about it. Probably goes for most Americans, so I guess I wouldn't call that making it big.
That's the whole point. They didn't make it big in the USA.
I've posted this before. But it was quite a while ago. I kept up with them through the years and bought all their CDs. Certainly, they had way more than two songs. Then I saw them live in 2013 near Rotterdam. By that time I think they couldn't realize how great they sounded live. Needless to say, without George Kooymans there can be no Golden Earring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GaXkb8Xxfc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5UNYzGpH7Y
Quote from: Basvarken on December 25, 2025, 10:22:22 AMYesterday Dutch band DeWolff played an amazing tribute to George (and Golden Earring)
Oh my, I just creamed in my pants, effing brilliant that is.
Here is a review of Golden Earring's remastered and expanded "On the Double" album. It has been out for a few months, but I've just been able to get it and I'm listening to it now. This was originally released in 1969 right before Cesar Zuiderwijk became their drummer. Considering how far back this album goes, I'm a little surprised it sounds this good. This was only the second album to feature Barry Hay as lead singer.
https://outsiderrock.ca/2025/10/09/golden-earring-on-the-double-expanded-reissue/
Did you see any videos of the concerts that were held at Ahoy Rotterdam last month?
Rinus, Barry and Cesar shared the stage with various artists to honor George and the Golden Earring repertoire.
It was supposed to be one night only. But eventually they sold out the venue three nights in a row.
I hadn't heard about that, but I'm really glad they got to do it successfully.
Here the band Di-rect with Barry Hay on lead vocals. Guitarist Spike is his son-in-law.
And Rinus Gerritsen doing his crazy bass solo
Here is the band Son Mieux with Cesar Zuiderwijk sitting in on drums