George Kooymans, co-founder of Golden Earring, dies aged 77 [View all]

Source: Dutch News

George Kooymans, guitarist and co-founder of the legendary Dutch rock band Golden Earring, has died at the age of 77. His family said on Tuesday that he died from the effects of ALS, the muscle-wasting disease he was diagnosed with in 2020.

“We say goodbye to a great musician and composer whose work reached far beyond Golden Earring. George was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, but above all, a friend,” the family said in a statement.

Golden Earring’s drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk told the AD he is taking time to reflect. “What we want now is silence and to think back on everything he did,” he told the media. “I played with him for 50 years, and it was the best time of my life.”

Golden Earring, formed in The Hague in 1961 by Kooymans and bassist Rinus Gerritsen, became the Netherlands’ most successful rock band. With hits like Radar Love (1973) and Twilight Zone (1982)—the latter written by Kooymans and reaching the US Top 10—the band achieved global fame.

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Read more: https://www.dutchnews.nl/2025/07/george-kooymans-co-founder-of-golden-earring-dies-aged-77/

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That barely touches on the band's success in the Netherlands over 6 decades, the success of a supergroup trio and a duo George was also recording and touring with still at the time of his diagnosis, or all the help he gave other Dutch artists over the years, writing hit songs for them and producing records for them.

See this old topic in the Lounge for much more on that, in the many replies:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181674319

George fought ALS very bravely, finishing albums he'd been working on with that trio and duo.

Rest in power.


Music video for Radar Love:




Live performance of Twilight Zone, a couple of months before they recorded it, when it had a different working title that was changed by the time this concert was broadcast:




Editing to add, re the news article's mention of his having written Twilight Zone - George wrote both the music and the lyrics for most of their hits, besides writing hits for other artists. With Golden Earring, he eventually turned the lyrics over to lead singer Barry Hay, whose first language was English. But George wrote all the music and would sometimes suggest lyrics to Barry.