I would appreciate some of DU's good vibes or

[highplainsdem]

73. George's former bandmate Boudewijn de Groot, as mentioned in reply 69 above,

has a new solo album out, which George gave him some help with. Boudewijn has been doing some interviews to promote the album, and in one he talked about George and Henny Virenten, the other two members of the supergroup trio Vreemde Kostgangers (Strange Boarders):


https://www.volkskrant.nl/cultuur-media/stoppen-stoppen-vind-ik-problematisch~b590be71/

-snipping the earlier paragraphs, including the one about how Boudewijn himself was the one to end the Vreemde Kostgangers touring because he found it made him anxious to do live performances-

And so he decided that the Strange Boarders tour of spring 2020 should be his final farewell to the stage. Thanks to the coronavirus, it ended after only a handful of performances in February 2020. Lockdown. It would no longer come from a resumption or catch-up dates: in February 2021, George Kooymans announced that he suffers from the debilitating nerve disease ALS and could no longer perform. In September, Vrienten was also found to be seriously ill. Lung cancer, it became known at his death on April 25 of this year.

'It was all very unexpected', says De Groot. 'That was actually the worst thing: that abrupt. It broke something off. George and Henny weren't done yet, they were busy. Two fantastic composers, songwriters with enormous drive.'

-snip-

Three days before Henny Vrienten, Jan Rot died, with whom De Groot wrote songs and shared stages. Rot also had cancer. Colleague Rob de Nijs, who received his songs about illustrious figures such as Malle Babbe, Jan Klaassen the trumpeter and Sister Ursula from De Groot, has Parkinson's disease and had to stay in his wheelchair at his farewell concert in June.

-snip-

"Well, what do you have to say about it? It is a hopeless state to want to make music so badly, but not be able to do it anymore. In any case, Jan Rot and Henny Vrienten no longer have to witness their own decline. George Kooymans and Rob de Nijs experience their decline in their full mind. That is appalling. And me? I'm healthy for the time being, but I'm also just getting older. At some point I won't be able to do it anymore. That's life. Incurable diseases are miserable, but 'just' getting older is the natural state of affairs.'

-snip-

Unfortunately, some of the Dutch news sites that did stories about this interview and a few quotes from it left out the positive things Boudewijn said about George and ran their stories under headlines like: "Boudewijn de Groot: horrifying how George Kooymans and Rob de Nijs are deteriorating"

https://www.telegraaf.nl/entertainment/535801855/boudewijn-de-groot-afschuwelijk-hoe-george-kooymans-en-rob-de-nijs-aftakelen

The headline of the original Volkskrant story/interview had been something Boudewijn had said about himself and not retiring yet: ""Stop? I find quitting problematic'"

As someone I believe is a Golden Earring fan said on Twitter, you don't just make a headline of only what Boudewijn said about George and Rob de Nijs deteriorating.

I still haven't found more details on exactly what help George gave Boudewijn with his new album, but I'll keep looking.