George Kooymans, the guitarist who found fame with Golden Earring and their 1973 hit “Radar Love,” died July 23 at age 77. An attorney for the band said Kooymans’ death was caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
"We say goodbye to a great musician and composer whose work extended beyond Golden Earring,” Kooymans’ family wrote in a statement. “George was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, but above all, a friend."
For millions of American teens in the 1970s, there was no more perfect song for late-night cruising than Golden Earring’s “Radar Love.” Its shuffling boogie rhythm encouraged pedal-to-the-metal driving, while the lyrics captured the thrill of joyriding and, hopefully, getting lucky.
Pushing it all along was the insistent riffing of Kooymans, who punctuated the space between Barry Hay’s lyrics with some of the tastiest licks outside of a Dairy Queen drive-thru. “Radar Love” was and remains the quintessential American hard-rock road song.
So it surprised many young American listeners when they discovered Golden Earring hailed not from the U.S. but the Netherlands. What's more, the group had been a going concern for more than 10 years by the time it scored its breakthrough hit.
Kooymans and bass guitar player Rinus Gerritsen launched the band in the Hague as the Tornadoes, but had to change their name when the U.K.-based Tornados had a hit with “Telstar.” They took the name Golden Earrings from a song by the English beat group the Hunters, and found success as a pop act at home and in the U.K.
In 1969, the band dropped the “s” from its name and went full-on hard rock, earning an invitation to open the Who’s 1972 European tour and record for their Track Records label, just in time to release 1973’s Moontan and its single “Radar Love.”
Kooymans’ electric guitar work, performed on his black, three-pickup Gibson Les Paul Custom, with exposed pickups, helped propel the song to the upper reaches of the U.S. charts, where it hit number 13.
Golden Earring’s fortunes faded in the late 1970s, but they scored a strong comeback in 1982 with the single “Twilight Zone,” from their album Cut. Though it was the group’s last hurrah in America, Golden Earring continued to find steady support at home, while “Radar Love” has remained for many Americans of a certain generation the ultimate car song.
Beyond his work with the group, Kooymans released a pair of solo albums, Jojo (1971) and Solo (1987), as well as two albums with American rock musician Frank Carillo.
In 2021, Kooymans was diagnosed with ALS, an incurable neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells controlling voluntary muscle movement and leads to progressive muscle weakness and paralysis. Golden Earring disbanded upon news of his condition.
In a statement, Limore Noach, director of the ALS Netherlands Foundation, recalled how Netherlanders stood behind Kooymans when news of his fight was made public.
"When it became known that George Kooymans had ALS and could no longer perform, it was heartwarming to see how the whole of the Netherlands rallied in support,” she said.
“Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and the other band members, and we wish them much strength," she added.
