Ric Ocasek, frontman for 1980s hitmakers The Cars, dead at 75
- Singer was pronounced dead at his Manhattan home after someone called 911
- Last year, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Ric Ocasek, The Cars frontman whose deadpan vocal delivery and lanky, sunglassed look defined a rock era with chart-topping hits like Just What I Needed, was discovered dead in his Manhattan apartment.
The New York Police Department said that officers found the 75-year-old Ocasek about 4pm on Sunday after responding to a 911 call. They said there were no signs of foul play and that the medical examiner was to determine a cause of death.
“So sad. Such a great writer, singer, player, producer,” fellow classic rocker Peter Frampton said on Twitter of Ocasek.
“My thoughts are with his family. Rest in peace.”
The death comes a year after The Cars were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, followed by an announcement by model Paulina Porizkova 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, another Cars hit.