Ric Ocasek

As the leader of The Cars, Ric Ocasek did more than just about anybody to bring New Wave to the mainstream in America in the late '70s and early '80s. Born Richard Otcasek in Baltimore, Maryland was always a rock 'n' roll kid. As a teen he relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, where he met singer and bassist Benjamin Orr (then Orzechowski). The two of them started a band called ID Nirvana in 1968. By the start of the '70s, still working on music together, they had moved to Boston, where they started the acoustic-oriented Milkwood, recording the album How's the Weather? For Paramount in 1973, earning zero attention. Over the next few years, Ocasek and Orr moved through a variety of bands including Richard & The Rabbits and Cap'n Swing, the latter of which evolved into The Cars in 1976. With Ocasek writing the songs, playing rhythm guitar, and sharing lead vocals with Orr, The Cars developed a sound that combined New Wave influences with classic pop hooks. Starting with their blockbuster self-titled debut LP in 1978, they quickly began racking up ubiquitous hits like "Let's Go" and "Just What I Needed." By the early '80s The Cars had become superstars, influencing hordes of New Wave bands and changing the sound of the American rock mainstream with their tension-filled, angular approach. They achieved their peak of popularity in the mid '80s, but Ocasek decided to fold up the tent in 1988. He had already embarked on a solo career while he was still in The Cars, starting with 1982's Beatitude, which reached No. 28 and continuing with This Side of Paradise in '86. He would make four more solo albums in the '90s, with diminished commercial impact. But since his early Cars days, Ocasek had always been involved with production, overseeing records by the likes of Suicide, Romeo Void, and Bad Brains. And in the '90s he began producing more and more albums for others, including Weezer, Black 47, Bad Religion, Nada Surf, Jonathan Richman, and others. Ben Orr died in 2000 but the rest of The Cars briefly reunited in 2010, releasing their final album, Move Like This, in 2011. Ocasek's final solo album was 2005's Nexterday. He died in his New York City home on September 15, 2019 at the age of 75 while recovering from a recent surgery.