Golden Earring

Golden Earring
Golden Earring in 1974
Background information
Origin	The Hague, Netherlands
Genres	Hard rock, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, Nederbeat
Years active	1961–present
Labels	Polydor, MCA, Track, Universal, Columbia, Capitol, Mercury, 21, Polygram, Atlantic, Atco, First Quake, Red Bullet
Website	www.goldenearring.nl
Members	Rinus Gerritsen George Kooymans Barry Hay Cesar Zuiderwijk
Past members	Fred van der Hilst Hans van Herwerden Peter de Ronde Frans Krassenburg Jaap Eggermont Sieb Warner Bertus Borgers Eelco Gelling Robert Jan Stips John Legrand Philip van Boom

Golden Earring is a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Golden Earrings (the definite article was dropped in 1967, while the "s" was dropped in 1969). They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch charts, reached the top ten in the UK and went to number thirteen on the US charts, "Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When the Lady Smiles" in 1984. During their career they had nearly 30 top-ten singles on the Dutch charts; over the years they produced 25 studio albums.

The band's lineup currently consists of co-founders Rinus Gerritsen (bass and keyboards) and George Kooymans (vocals and guitar), along with Barry Hay (vocals, guitar, flute and saxophone), and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums and percussion). All musicians in the present lineup of the band have been continuous members of the band since 1970, although other musicians have joined and left the band during the intervening years.

What became Golden Earring was formed in 1961 in The Hague by 13-year-old George Kooymans and his 15-year-old neighbor, Rinus Gerritsen. Originally called the Tornados, the name was changed to The Golden Earrings when they discovered that the name The Tornados was already in use by another group. The name The Golden Earrings was taken from an instrumental called "Golden Earrings" performed by the British group The Hunters, for whom they served as opening and closing act. Initially a pop-rock band with Frans Krassenburg on lead vocals and Jaap Eggermont on drums, The Golden Earrings had their first chart success with their debut single "Please Go", recorded in 1965. It became a hit on the charts in the Netherlands. Dissatisfied with Dutch recording studios, the band's manager and co-discoverer Fred Haayen arranged for the next single to be recorded at the Pye Records studios in London. The record cut at Pye, "That Day", reached number two on the Dutch charts.