Golden Earring co-founder George Kooymans dies at 77

George Kooymans of Golden Earring performs on stage at Shepherd's Bush Empire on March 14, 2009, in London, England. (C Brandon/Redferns)

NEW YORK — George Kooymans, the guitarist and co-founder of the Dutch band Golden Earring who co-wrote the hard-rock classic “Radar Love” and wrote and shared lead vocals on the top 10 hit “Twilight Zone,” has died at age 77.

Kooymans’ family and the surviving members of Golden Earring announced that he had died Wednesday from complications of ALS, which he had been diagnosed with in 2020. He retired from the band soon after.

“George bore this devastating and debilitating illness with exceptional strength and dignity,” the statement from Golden Earring reads in part. “We bid farewell to a great musician and composer, whose work extended beyond Golden Earring. George was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, but above all, a friend.”

A native of The Hague, Kooymans was in his mid-teens when he helped found what became Golden Earring in the early 1960s: The band’s name was inspired by an instrumental of the time, “Golden Earrings.” He was also a core member of the group’s best known lineup, which featured drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk, singer-guitarist Barry Hay and bassist-keyboardist Rinus Gerritsen and stayed together from 1970 until Koosyman’s departure.

With more than 20 top 10 singles in their native country, Golden Earring had more success at home than overseas. But they began to attract an underground following in the U.S. in the late 1960s and broke through commercially in 1973 with the worldwide hit “Radar Love,” which has been covered by U2, R.E.M. and hundreds of others and used on the soundtrack to “Baby Driver,” “Wayne’s World 2” and other films.

“Radar Love,” with its stately opening riff and memorable opening line “I’ve been driving all night, my hands wet on the wheel,” was once ranked by Rolling Stone as among the greatest road trip songs.

Golden Earring shared bills with Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin among others and toured with such stars as Aerosmith, Rush and the Doobie Brothers. In 1982, “Twilight Zone” became their biggest U.S. song with the help of a video on the recently launched MTV, while other popular tracks included “When the Lady Smiles” and “Going to the Run.”

Golden Earring continued to tour and record in the 1990s and beyond. For its 50th anniversary, in 2011, the band was honored with a commemorative stamp from the Dutch postal service that through an app could be linked to “Radar Love.” A farewell performance, without Kooymans, had already been scheduled for early next year.

The Associated Press