Barry Hay

Hay was born in Ayodhya, India, to a Dutch-Jewish[2] mother, Sofia Maria née Sluijter (1922–2004, born in Makassar), and a Scottish commissioned officer, Philip Aubrey Hay (1923–1980). He moved to the Netherlands at the age of eight to live with his mother. 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.

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.

He has also made three solo albums. Only Parrots, Frogs and Angels (1972) and Victory of Bad Taste (1987) both has little success. The Big Band Theory (2008) is available for online streaming.

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.

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. 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.[3]

In 2016, Hay released an album with side-project Flying V Formation, and his biography.

In 2019, Hay released an album with musician JB Meijers (The Common Linnets); For You Baby contains Latin-flavoured cover versions, including Blue Bayou, a duet with Danny Vera.