RIP: Ric Ocasek [ 'The Cars' ] @ 75.....

[NewtonMP2100]

....lead singer for 'The Cars'....found dead at 75 in NY.......in townhouse......no cause listed yet, just found unconscious.....

.......they are saying 'natural causes'......found unconscious in bed by Paulina [ his wife - they separated last year, though not divorced ].....



Ric Ocasek, Lead Singer of The Cars, Dead in New York at 75

Ocasek and The Cars were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018

.....Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Ric Ocasek, lead singer of the rock band The Cars, died Sunday in New York at age 75.

Police said they received a call around 4 p.m. for an unconscious male at a townhouse on East 19th Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Law enforcement sources confirmed the deceased was Ocasek.

Ocasek and his band were inducted into the Rock Hall in 2018. The institution described the band as "hook-savvy with the perfect combo of new wave and classic rock."

The band had 13 top-40 singles, including radio staples like "Good Times Roll" and "Just What I Needed," and Ocasek went on to a successful producing career after The Cars broke up in the late 1980s.

He was also known for his long-running marriage to the Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova. She announced their separation in 2018 after 28 years of marriage.

They listed the 19th Street residence for sale earlier this year for more than $15 million.


.....R.......I.....P........?!

[Acer]

Never bought a record of the Cars, but heard them all the time on the radio. Part of my high school sound track.

[Dennis S]

I'm glad he made the Hall of Fame, as much as I have problems with it, before he died.

[rgG]

Oh no. I love the cars.
I hated when Ben Oar (sp?) died when he was in his 30’s or 40’s, now Ric.
I did not know Ric was 75. I thought he was a bit younger.

[Rolando]

The Cars were the soundtrack to one of the greatest moments of my teenage life


And I was 75 and married to Paulina Porizkova, I'm pretty sure I'd know what the cause of death would be.miley-excited001:

[btfc]

I saw the Cars in a little bar in a New Hampshire ski town before they got big.



"married to Paulina Porizkova"


They split recently.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Just a few nights ago I was watching a documentary about the 1982 US Festival that featured a clip of the Cars' performance at the concert. Seeing Benjamin Orr onscreen, my mind went to his premature death -- I had no idea we'd be observing Ocasek's passing so soon after.

He had a good life. RIP, sir.

[Thrift Store Scott]

Acer wrote:
Never bought a record of the Cars, but heard them all the time on the radio. Part of my high school sound track.

Their eponymous first album is all good, both sides. Their second album, "Candy O", not so much.

rgG wrote:
Oh no. I love the cars.
I hated when Ben Oar (sp?) died when he was in his 30’s or 40’s, now Ric.
I did not know Ric was 75. I thought he was a bit younger.

I thought Ric was younger too.

Aside from his considerable musical contributions, Ric Ocasek is the man who introduced what was then known as a "Bi-Level" haircut (and would later go on to be retroactively and derisively known as a "mullet" thanks to the Beastie Boys) to the world, and no-one ever wore one better.

Rest In Peace, Ric.

The Cars singing "My Best Friend's Girlfriend" live in 1978- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH7NxDB5lE4

[Blankity Blank]

Ah HAH! I thought I was going crazy when I had 70 in the title of my late freight post, then saw Newton’s with 75, and backed by other news stories. But...

NPR
”Updated at 10:52 p.m.

Ric Ocasek, the lead singer of the rock band The Cars, died Sunday in New York; he was found unconscious Sunday afternoon at his townhouse in Manhattan. A New York Police Department spokesman confirmed Ocasek's death to NPR. There is some confusion about Ocasek's age: The NYPD said that he was 75; public records list his age as 70 years old.”

[JoeH]

Wikipedia has him as being born in 1944 and graduating from a high school in 1963. That would be consistent with his being age 75. Will have to wait and see how the edits settle down.

Edit - Article also states his oldest son was born in 1964.