Ric Ocasek passed away Sunday in New York at age 75.
The lead singer of The Cars, which just got inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, was found unresponsive at his home in New York City. His estranged wife Paulina Porizkova found him and he pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. A source with the New York Post said he apparently died of natural causes.
Leaders of the "new wave" sound, The Cars gained fame with their first album, The Cars, which sold around six million copies and lasted on the Billboard 200 chart for 139 weeks. Hits like "Just What I Needed," "Let's Go," "Drive," "You're All I've Got Tonight," "Since You're Gone," "Shake It Up," "Magic," "Good Times Roll," and many more propelled them through much of the 1980s until the band broke up in 1988.
Bassist and singer Benjamin Orr passed away in 2000, and the remaining members of The Cars reunited to release Move Like This in 2011.
Here's Ric performing with The Cars doing "Since You're Gone" (and standing out with his suit) on a show called Fridays, which was ABC's attempt to compete with Saturday Night Live back in 1981. A younger Larry David introduces him from the audience.
We'll certainly miss him, as we lose yet another great rock and roller.
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