Ric Ocasek, famed frontman for The Cars, was found dead Sunday in a Manhattan apartment. The New York City Police Department told CBS News he “was found deceased earlier today.” The Cars’ chart-topping hits in the late 1970s and 1980s included “Just What I Needed,” “Shake It Up” and “Drive.” The band was inducted last year into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
NYPD told The Associated Press that officers were responding to a 911 call when they found Ocasek. They said there was no sign of foul play and that the medical examiner has yet to determine a cause of death. He was in his seventies.
In May of 2018, model and actress Paulina Porizkova announced on social media that she and Ocasek had separated after 28 years of marriage. The pair first met while filming the music video for “Drive.”
Ocasek was also known as a producer who collaborated with other musical groups. He was born Richard Theodore Otcasek in Baltimore, according to Reuters, and met bass player and future bandmate Benjamin Orr after moving to Cleveland for high school. The Cars was formed in the mid-1970s.
The group’s first top-20 single was “Let’s Go” in 1979. The Cars produced other hits throughout the 80s before breaking up in 1988, followed by Orr’s death in 2000 from pancreatic cancer.
Reuters said the band reunited for “Move Like This” — their final album in 2010.
