The Cars’ New Wave Frontman Ric Ocasek Dies at 75
Legendary ’80s singer-songwriter Ric Ocasek of famed rock band The Cars was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Sunday afternoon. No official cause of death has been announced. He was 75. Ocasek, the frontman for The Cars, helped define the sound of new wave and rock music in the ’80s, reaching major success with hits “You Might Think,” “Drive,” “Shake it Up,” and “Just What I Needed.”
Ocasek’s death comes nearly a year after The Cars were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Although most of the band’s hit songs are still played today, The Cars officially broke up in 1988. It was last year that Paulina Porizkova, his wife of 28 years, announced the couple had separated. Ocasek and Porizkova met during filming of the music video for the Cars’ song “Drive” in 1984. They married five years later in 1989.
The sunglasses-wearing Ocasek is credited with creating the band’s signature new wave style with his lanky body and a special keen sense of fashion. And, in case you’re unsure how he pronounced his name:
The Cars were initially formed in Boston in 1976 by Ocasek, Benjamin Orr, Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes and David Robinson. Orr, the band’s bassist and vocalist, died in 2000 of pancreatic cancer. When the band broke up in 1988, Ocasek made it clear that the band would never reunite. Ocasek’s last performance took place in April 2018 during their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Cars released seven studio albums and had their greatest success with their first album The Cars that was released in 1978. This album produced three singles: “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” and “Good Times Roll;” all reached major chart success and became radio hits from 1978 into late 1979.
Ocasek also had a solo career which produced eight albums, and he was also a well-known painter (memorialized in John Waters’ original movie Hairspray).