Barry Hay


Barry Andrew Hay is a Dutch musician; he was the lead vocalist and frontman of Dutch rock band Golden Earring from 1967 until their disbandment in 2021. He has also released three solo albums.

Early life and education

Hay was born in Faizabad, United Provinces, to a Dutch-Jewish mother, Sofia Maria née Sluijter, and a Scottish commissioned officer, Philip Aubrey Hay. He moved to the Netherlands at the age of eight to live with his mother after his parents divorced. He lived in Amsterdam and later in The Hague, attending an English boarding school.
After graduating from secondary school, he took courses at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.

Background

Hay's grandmother, Flora Sluijter-Polak, was killed in an Auschwitz concentration camp on 1 October 1942, and her child, Marcus Sluijter was also killed in Auschwitz, on 31 January 1943, aged fifteen. After the Second World War ended, Barry's mother hid her Jewish identity and "no longer wanted to know that she was Jewish".
His maternal grandfather served in the Dutch East Indies Army.

Career

Hay started his music career with a band called The Haigs. In the summer of 1967, he was asked to join the Golden Earrings, as they were then called, replacing Frans Krassenburg. Hay created the cover art for some of Golden Earring's albums.
They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch chart, reached the top ten in the United Kingdom, and went to number thirteen on the United States chart, "Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When the Lady Smiles" in 1984. During their career they had nearly 30 top-ten singles on the Dutch charts and released 25 studio albums.
He has released three solo albums. Only Parrots, Frogs and Angels and Victory of Bad Taste both has little success. The Big Band Theory is available for online streaming. The Big Band Theory featured music from Metropole Orkest. In 2009, he released a DVD of him and the Orkest performing the album live.
In 1990, Hay lent his voice to the Dutch dub of the animated film "All Dogs Go to Heaven", providing the voice of Charlie. He later did this again for the Dutch version of Fern Gully and for Hanekam de Rocker. In 1999 he played a small role - as himself - in An Amsterdam Tale.
In 1994, he sang lead vocals and played alto flute on the Ayreon song "Sail Away to Avalon", the single from the latter's debut album, The Final Experiment.
During the 2000s, Hay provided the Dutch voice of Rock Zilla in the Canadian cartoon show My Dad The Rock Star, and he appeared in an advertisement for prescription sunglasses.
In 2016, Hay released an album with side-project Flying V Formation, and his biography. In December 2017, the Flying V released a cover of The Ronettes' 1963 hit song "Be My Baby".
In 2019, Hay released an album with musician JB Meijers ; For You Baby, which contains Latin-flavoured cover versions and includes Blue Bayou, a duet with Danny Vera.
On 5 February 2021, the band's manager announced to the Dutch press that their active career was over due to George Kooymans' serious illness. In 2022, he released another album in collaboration with JB Meijers, titled "Fiesta de la Vida".

Personal life

Hay married Sandra Bastiaan on February 22, 1992. The couple have two daughters, born in 1990 and 1999.
In 2001, Hay left The Hague and moved back to Amsterdam, although he now divides his time between the Netherlands and Curaçao, where he hosts a radio show.

Discography

Golden Earring
Solo
  • Only Parrots, Frogs and Angels
  • Victory of Bad Taste
  • The Big Band Theory
  • For You Baby
  • ''Fiesta de la Vida''