The planned farewell concerts of Golden Earring in January will proceed as planned, despite the death of band member George Kooymans. The shows were initiated by the guitarist himself, according to a spokesperson for the organization to the ANP press agency.
The farewell, which will take place in Rotterdam Ahoy, was announced in January under the name One Last Night. Due to the enormous demand for tickets, four additional shows were announced.
Golden Earring last performed in 2019. At that time, the members did not know that the subsequent corona pandemic would be the last show.
Because Kooymans became ill afterwards, the group stopped immediately. At the initiative of the guitarist, the remaining three band members will still conclude their career in front of an audience.
Kooymans suffered from the neurological disease ALS. He died on Wednesday at the age of 76.
In 1961, Kooymans and his neighbor Rinus Gerritsen founded the band The Golden Earrings, which later became known as Golden Earring. The group scored big hits with songs like Radar Love, Twilight Zone and When the Lady Smiles. The Hague band was also popular abroad.
Golden Earring had several line-ups over the years. Since 1970, the core of the band consisted of Kooymans, Gerritsen, Barry Hay and Cesar Zuiderwijk. The band itself did not want to respond to Kooymans’ death on Wednesday.
It was also announced that the funeral of the deceased guitarist will take place in private. That was announced by lawyer Cor Hellingman. A date is not yet known.