1982 hit "Twilight Zone" -- and now that I know you're a Golden Earring fan, I can't help wondering if that song is at least part of the reason for your user name.
I love "Twilight Zone." My favorite Golden Earring song, along with "Radar Love," and I'd probably pick "Twilight Zone" if I had to pick one.
https://democraticunderground.com/103467479
I'm always glad to see more Golden Earring fans here. Just checked the "Search this group" feature at the top of the group page, and when I search for "earring" in the thread titles, going back clear to the start of the group 11 years ago, my user name shows up more than any other, for some reason, though I didn't start posting here till last fall.
Yes, it is remarkable that they had the same lineup from 1970, when drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk joined, till last year. (They had a couple of other additional members in the '70s, a keyboardist and a second lead guitarist, but they didn't stay long.) Lead singer Barry Hay had joined in 1966. But the group really started way back in 1961, when George Kooymans and his neighbor Rinus Gerritsen decided to form a band -- after George, who was only 13 then, taught Rinus to play guitar, after initially trying and failing to teach Rinus's older brother, Rob. George also fell in love with and later married Rinus and Rob's sister, Melanie (Milly), and they're still married. Rob became the band's manager later, and Rob and Rinus's dad made at least one of their early guitars. So, lots of family connections, ever since they were kids. It was still a remarkably stable band, especially considering that all of them except Rinus (who's also a teetotaller) used drugs for a while, especially in the '70s, even trying heroin briefly (well, George and Barry experimented with heroin, not sure if Cesar did).
They did come close to breaking up at times, and from what I've read, it was usually George who was the one who was about to quit. I think they came closest right before "Twilight Zone" became their biggest international hit. George had written the song by himself (no help from Barry on that one, though Barry, who had English as his first language because of his Scottish father, has written a lot of their lyrics) and had planned to use the song for his second solo album (he'd already released one, in the early 1970s), but then included it with what they thought would be the Earring's farewell album, Cut, in 1982. And that changed everything for them.
So did the ALS diagnosis. Very sadly, as you said. Such a horrible disease. Barry said in an interview that George was the last person in the band they'd expected to have a career-ending illness. He took pretty good care of himself, ran marathons, played tennis.
But ALS doesn't care how fit or athletic you are.
I've known only one person who got ALS, and I knew him online only, in the 1980s, years before he had ALS. But because he was well known, I heard about it later. TV producer/writer Ernie Wallengren, who also coached high school boys basketball, which he really loved. He was diagnosed with ALS when he was only in his late 40s, and he died a couple of years later. Video I've seen of Ernie while he was fighting ALS is heartbreaking. Such a nice guy, and such a terrible disease.
But they must have better treatments for ALS now than they had 20 years ago And I'm hoping they'll find a cure soon.
Golden Earring's members helped raise some money for the ALS Foundation of the Netherlands last month
https://democraticunderground.com/103472246
and I was tempted to bid in that auction until I read the detail about having to go to the foundation's offices in The Hague to pick up the print you bid on.
Rinus did an interview recently where he said George was doing pretty well, despite the diagnosis.
But it is very sad that he's so ill he had to stop performing, ending the band's 60-year career, when they hadn't planned to stop.
Their last concert, because of Covid-19 in early 2020 and George's diagnosis later that year, turned out to be the one in November 2019 at the Ahoy arena in Rotterdam. Which fortunately was recorded, and a double CD and DVD set -- You Know We Love You! -- was released earlier this month. I'm supposed to get the copy I ordered today.
= new reply since forum marked as read