Editing Golden Earring (section)

==History==
===Early years (1961–1969)===
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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=NWS |first=VRT |date=2021-02-05 |title=Rockband Golden Earring stopt ermee door ziekte van bandlid George Kooymans |url=https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2021/02/05/rockband-golden-earring-stopt-ermee-door-ziekte-van-bandlid-geor/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=vrtnws.be |language=nl}}</ref> Originally called "the Tornados", the name was changed to '''the Golden Earrings'''<ref name="LarkinHR"/> 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 (instrumental band)|the Hunters]], for whom they served as opening and closing act.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Slagwerkkrant.nl |title=Golden Earring na zestig jaar gedwongen om te stoppen |url=https://www.slagwerkkrant.nl/nieuws/artikel/2-25186/golden-earring-na-zestig-jaar-gedwongen-om-te-stoppen |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Slagwerkkrant.nl}}</ref> Initially a pop-rock band with Frans Krassenburg on lead vocals and [[Jaap Eggermont]] on drums, the Golden Earrings had a hit with their debut single "Please Go", recorded in 1965.<ref name=huey/><ref name="LarkinHR"/> 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.{{CN|date=November 2021}} The definite article was dropped from the name in 1967, and the plural "s" was dropped in 1969.<ref name=huey>{{cite web |last=Huey |first=Steve |title=Golden Earring Biography |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/golden-earring-mn0000669303/biography |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref>

In 1968, [[Barry Hay]] joined the band, replacing Krassenburg as frontman. Two years later, the band earned their first number one hit in the Netherlands with the song "Dong Dong Diki Digi Dong".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Toen Op 1: Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong {{!}} Top 40-nieuws |url=https://www.top40.nl/binnen-bij-nieuws-toen-op-1-dong-dong-di-ki-di-gi-dong |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Top40.nl |language=nl}}</ref> In the United States, ground work for entering the US market was being laid by East Coast FM radio disc jockey and music critic Neil Kempfer-Stocker, who is credited as the first radio DJ to play the band in the US. This single was followed by a successful psychedelic album ''[[Eight Miles High (album)|Eight Miles High]]'',<ref name="LarkinHR"/> which featured a 19-minute version of the title track, a cover of the [[Eight Miles High|1966 hit song]] by [[the Byrds]]. The song, played throughout their US tour, became the core performance of their live shows, and their experience in the US led them to make their studio albums resemble their live shows, rather than the other way around.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TqU5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT219 |page=219 |title=Made in the Low Countries: Studies in Popular Music |series=Routledge Global Popular Music Series |editor1-first=Lutgard |editor1-last=Mutsaers |editor2-first=Gert |editor2-last=Keunen |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=9781317417941 |first=Maarten |last=Steenmeijer |chapter=Before and After: Golden Earring Before and After the 'Dutch Invasion'}}</ref> The band's American records during this period were issued by the [[Perception Records]] label in New York, and the band's ''[[Golden Earring (album)|Golden Earring]]'' LP, known as ''Wall of Dolls'', and single "Back Home" performed poorly in the US but became a number 1 hit in the Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vandaag in 1970: grootste hit Golden Earring komt binnen |url=https://www.top40.nl/nieuws-nieuws-vandaag-in-1970-grootste-hit-golden-earring-komt-binnen |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Top40.nl |language=nl}}</ref>

===International fame (1970s and 1980s)===
{{multiple image
|total_width = 300
|image1 = Barry Hay 2 - Golden Earring - 1974.jpg
|caption1 = Lead singer [[Barry Hay]] in 1974
|image2 = George Kooymans - Golden Earring - 1974.jpg
|caption2 = Lead guitarist [[George Kooymans]] in 1974 
}}
In 1969, drummer [[Cesar Zuiderwijk]] joined the band,<ref name="LarkinHR"/> completing what has become Golden Earring's classic line-up. The band enjoyed brief international fame in the 1970s when the single version of "[[Radar Love]]" (1973),<ref name="LarkinHR"/> from the gold-certified album ''[[Moontan]]'', became a hit in both Europe and the US.<ref name=huey/> Golden Earring embarked on their first major US tour in 1969–1970. Owing to American influences, their music evolved towards hard rock,<ref name="LarkinHR"/> and they performed along with [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[Led Zeppelin]], [[Procol Harum]], and [[Eric Clapton]]. Between 1969 and 1984, Golden Earring completed 13 US tours. During this period, they performed as the opening act for [[Santana (band)|Santana]], [[King Crimson]], [[the Doobie Brothers]], [[Rush (band)|Rush]] and [[38 Special (band)|.38 Special]]. During 1973–74, when "Radar Love" was a hit, they had [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] and [[Aerosmith]] as their opening acts.

Golden Earring released the ''[[Live (Golden Earring album)|Live]]'' album in 1977.<ref name="LarkinHR">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1999|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0257-7|pages=187/8}}</ref> The album was recorded at London's Rainbow Theater.

Golden Earring enjoyed a brief period of US stardom, but were unable to secure further chart success until 1982's "[[Twilight Zone (Golden Earring song)|Twilight Zone]]".<ref name="LarkinHR"/> The music video of the song, directed by [[Dick Maas]], was played on the recently launched [[MTV]], and helped the song to become a US hit, spending 27 weeks on the Billboard chart.<ref name=internationale>{{cite news |url=https://www.nu.nl/muziek/6114669/het-internationale-succes-van-golden-earring-van-nummer-1-tot-gebande-clip.html |website=NU.nl |access-date=8 November 2021 |title=Het internationale succes van Golden Earring: van nummer 1 tot gebande clip |date=5 February 2021}}</ref>

"[[When the Lady Smiles]]" became an international hit in 1984, reaching No.&nbsp;3 in Canada and becoming the band's fifth number one hit in their native country, but was not successful in the United States, reaching no higher than #76 on the US Singles Chart. The video was banned from MTV because of its "unholy desires about a nun and a lobotomy";<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.tampabay.com/nothing-to-smile-about-in-this-truly-odd-golden-earring-video/2213316/ |newspaper=[[Tampa Bay Times]] |title=Nothing to smile about in this truly odd Golden Earring video |first=Kevin |last=Wuench |date=12 June 2015 |accessdate=8 November 2021}}</ref> this was [[Dick Maas]]'s second video for the band, and helped launch his career as a film director.<ref name=internationale/> While touring the US in 1984, the band played at the Great Arena [[Six Flags Great Adventure]] in New Jersey on May 11 and were in the midst of their performance when a fire broke out at the [[Haunted Castle (Six Flags Great Adventure)|Haunted Castle]] on the opposite side of the theme park, killing eight teenagers. Following this tour, Golden Earring turned their focus toward Europe where they continued to attract standing-room-only crowds. The group paused briefly after the release of ''[[The Hole (album)|The Hole]]'' in 1986 to focus on other projects, with Hay and Kooymans both releasing solo albums (''Victory of Bad Taste'' and ''Solo'', respectively) the following year. The group then reconvened to record their final album of the 1980s, releasing ''[[Keeper of the Flame (Golden Earring album)|Keeper of the Flame]]'' in 1989.<ref name="LarkinHR"/>

===Later years (1990s–2021)===
In 1991, Golden Earring had another hit in the Netherlands with "Going to the Run", a rock-ballad about a [[Hells Angels]] motorcycle gang member who was a friend of the band and died in a crash. The Russian rock band [[Aria (band)|Aria]] made a successful cover of "Going to the Run" as "Беспечный ангел" ("Careless Angel"). Between 1992 and 2004, the band released three acoustic live unplugged albums, which became quick successes. The first, ''The Naked Truth'', sold 450,000 copies within the first few years<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-29 |title=The Dutch Iconic blues albums: The Golden Earring - Naked Truth |url=https://www.bluesmagazine.nl/the-dutch-iconic-blues-albums-the-golden-earring-naked-truth/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |language=nl-NL}}</ref> and became the third-best selling album of 1993 in the Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web |title=JAAROVERZICHTEN - Album 1993 |url=https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1993&cat=a |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=dutchcharts.nl}}</ref>

Golden Earring celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2011, which the [[PostNL|Dutch postal service]] honored with a stamp that contained a music link: when a smartphone with a special app is held up to the music stamp, Golden Earring's "Radar Love" plays.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-10-10|title=Postzegel voor de Golden Earring|url=http://www.westonline.nl/nieuws/postzegel-voor-golden-earring|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111209235025/http://www.westonline.nl/nieuws/postzegel-voor-golden-earring|archive-date=2011-12-09|website=Westonline|language=nl}}</ref>

On 11 May 2012, the band released what was to prove to be their final studio album, ''[[Tits 'n Ass]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Slagwerkkrant.nl |title=Golden Earring na zestig jaar gedwongen om te stoppen |url=https://www.slagwerkkrant.nl/nieuws/artikel/2-25186/golden-earring-na-zestig-jaar-gedwongen-om-te-stoppen |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Slagwerkkrant.nl}}</ref>

On 5 February 2021, the band's manager announced to the Dutch press that the band's active career was over due to George Kooymans' serious [[ALS]] illness.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nos.nl/l/2367435|title=Ziekte George Kooymans betekent het einde van Golden Earring|website=Nos.nl|access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://netherlandsnewslive.com/golden-earring-guitarist-george-kooymans-seriously-ill-show/80504/|title=Golden Earring guitarist George Kooymans seriously ill &#124; Show|website=Netherlandslive.com|date=5 February 2021|access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref>

=== One Last Night (2025–present) ===
In January 2025, the band announced that they would play one final concert, named "Golden Earring: One Last Night" at the [[Rotterdam Ahoy]] on 30 January 2026. Kooymans will not play, but several famous Dutch artists will perform with the band, and five euros from each ticket sold will go to [[ALS]] research.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Golden Earring geeft op 30 januari 2026 toch afscheidsconcert in Ahoy |url=https://voorburgsdagblad.nl/rotterdam%20&%20regio/golden-earring-geeft-op-30-januari-2026-toch-afscheidsconcert-in-ahoy |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=voorburgsdagblad.nl |language=nl}}</ref> Because of extra demand, four more shows from 26 to 29 January were added, which also all sold out immediately.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-23 |title=Extra afscheidsconcerten Golden Earring binnen een uur uitverkocht |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2552927-extra-afscheidsconcerten-golden-earring-binnen-een-uur-uitverkocht |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=nos.nl |language=nl}}</ref>