The band went through a number of early personnel changes until settling on a stable lineup in 1970, consisting of Rinus Gerritsen (bass and keyboards), George Kooymans (vocals and guitar), Barry Hay (vocals, guitar, flute and saxophone), and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums and percussion), which remained unchanged until the band broke up in 2021 when Kooymans was diagnosed with ALS.

[7] 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.

This single was followed by a successful psychedelic album Eight Miles High,[6] which featured a 19-minute version of the title track, a cover of the 1966 hit song by the Byrds.

The band enjoyed brief international fame in the 1970s when the single version of "Radar Love" (1973),[6] from the gold-certified album Moontan, became a hit in both Europe and the US.

Owing to American influences, their music evolved towards hard rock,[6] and they performed along with Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Procol Harum, and Eric Clapton.

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.

[6] 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 made a successful cover of "Going to the Run" as "Беспечный ангел" ("Careless Angel").

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.