Biography George Kooymans

George Kooymans (born The Hague, Netherlands, 11 March 1948) is a songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, most famously in Golden Earring. Kooymans co-founded the band as The Tornado's in The Hague, Netherlands, in 1961.

With Golden Earring, Kooymans enjoyed major international chart success with singles such as Radar Love (1973), Twilight Zone (1982) and When The Lady Smiles (1984). Kooymans is Golden Earring's main songwriter, whereas singer, Barry Hay, wrote most of the group's lyrics.

Kooymans wrote songs for several Dutch artists that he 'discovered', including Bojoura, Earth and Fire (their début single, the Kooymans-penned Seasons, hit #2 in the Dutch charts in 1970) and, many years later, Anouk.

In their home country Golden Earring had over 40 hits and made over 30 gold and platinum albums. They sold millions of albums worldwide and are the oldest rock band in the world that is still performing throughout the year.

George Kooymans released two solo albums under his own name - Jojo (1971) and Solo (1987) - whereas 2010 saw the release of On Location, an album Kooymans recorded with his long-time friend, American musician Frank Carillo, under the moniker Kooymans/Carillo.

September 2016 saw him embark on a theatre tour under the moniker Vreemde Kostgangers, a collaboration with his long time friends and fellow legendary Dutch songwriters, Boudewijn de Groot and Henny Vrienten. Although Kooymans sang in Dutch on a couple of stand-alone occasions in the past, 'Vreemde Kostgangers' marked the first time for most Dutchmen to hear Kooymans sing in his mothertongue.

George Kooymans lives in Rijkevorsel, Belgium, close to the Dutch border.

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