Ric Ocasek, the frontman of synth-heavy new wave innovators The Cars, was found dead on Sunday in New York, police said. He was 75 years old.
The New York Police Department told reporters that they had received a call at approximately 4pm for an unconscious male at a townhouse in Manhattan.
He was pronounced dead at the scene and the body was identified as Ocasek, police said.
Photo: AFP
There were no signs of foul play, US media reported.
Under the leadership of the singer-songwriter and rhythm guitarist, The Cars brought the quirky electronic effects of new wave to classically structured, synthesizer-heavy pop songs, generating a string of hits such as You Might Think, Shake It Up and Drive in the 1980s.
They were among the early regulars on MTV, winning the “Video of the Year” award for You Might Think at the first Video Music Awards in 1984.
Born Richard Theodore Otcasek on March 23, 1944, in Baltimore, Maryland, the artist moved to Cleveland, Ohio, with his family as a teenager.
There, the lanky artist with his signature dark chin-length bob met Benjamin Orr, who would go on to be The Cars’ bassist, and the duo began playing the local bar and club circuit.
They moved to Boston in the early 1970s, founding The Cars in 1976 after adding Elliot Easton on guitar, Greg Hawkes on keyboards and David Robinson on drums.
The group broke up in the late 1980s and Ocasek began releasing solo work as well as working as a record executive and producing for a number of bands including Weezer and No Doubt.
“The weezer family is devastated by the loss of our friend and mentor Ric Ocasek,” the California rock band tweeted after news of his death broke. “We will miss him forever, & will forever cherish the precious times we got to work and hang out with him.”
“Rest in Peace & rock on Ric, we love you,” they wrote.
In 2011, the surviving members of The Cars — Orr died in 2000 — reunited and released their final album, Move Like This, and briefly toured.
The performer married three times and had six sons. His third wife, model and actress Paulina Porizkova, had announced the pair’s split on Instagram last year.
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