33 Facts About Ric Ocasek

Richard Theodore Otcasek, known as Ric Ocasek, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer.

Ric Ocasek was the primary co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the rock band the Cars.

Ric Ocasek worked as a record producer for artists such as Motion City Soundtrack, Suicide, Bad Brains, Weezer, Nada Surf, Guided by Voices, and No Doubt.

In 2018, Ric Ocasek was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars.

Ric Ocasek was born on March 23,1944, to a family of Polish descent in Baltimore, Maryland.

Ric Ocasek graduated from Maple Heights High School in 1963.

Ric Ocasek briefly attended Antioch College and Bowling Green State University, but dropped out to pursue a career in music.

Ric Ocasek met future Cars bassist Benjamin Orr in Cleveland in 1965 after Ric Ocasek saw Orr performing with his band the Grasshoppers on the Big 5 Show, a local musical variety program.

Ric Ocasek reconnected with Orr a few years later in Columbus, Ohio, and the two began performing in and booking bands together.

Ric Ocasek was a founding member of the Cars, recording numerous hit songs from 1978 to 1988.

Ric Ocasek played rhythm guitar and sang lead vocals for a majority of songs.

In 2010, Ric Ocasek reunited with the surviving original members of the Cars to record their first album in 24 years.

Ric Ocasek produced a portion of the third Motion City Soundtrack album, Even If It Kills Me.

In 2014, Ric Ocasek produced Everything Will Be Alright in the End, the ninth studio album by Weezer and his third collaboration with the band, and For All My Sisters, the sixth album by the Cribs.

The Cars disbanded in 1988, and Ric Ocasek disappeared from the public eye for a couple of years.

Ric Ocasek resurfaced in 1990 with his own album, Fireball Zone.

In 2005 Ric Ocasek released another album, Nexterday, to little fanfare, but it received positive reviews.

Ric Ocasek wrote a book of poetry in 1993 titled Negative Theatre.

For many years Ric Ocasek had a hobby of making drawings, photo collages, and mixed-media art works which, in 2009, were shown at a gallery in Columbus, Ohio, as an exhibition called "Teahead Scraps".

Ric Ocasek had a cameo role as a beatnik painter in the John Waters film Hairspray, and had a small part in the movie Made in Heaven in which he played a mechanic.

Ric Ocasek stated in a 2005 interview in Rockline that he hated touring and was unlikely to do so again.

Ric Ocasek stated he would not be reuniting with the Cars again, but gave the okay to his former bandmates to do so, with Todd Rundgren replacing him on vocals, using the name the New Cars.

Ric Ocasek appeared again on the July 26,2006, episode to cheers from the audience as he volunteered to lead a commando mission to "rescue" Stephen Jr.

Ric Ocasek appeared again on April 18,2007, in order to support his wife during her appearance on the show, after remarks that she found Colbert "extremely attractive".

Ric Ocasek has been mentioned many times in other episodes as well.

The Cars, with Ric Ocasek, appeared on The Colbert Report on August 9,2011, to promote their new album, Move Like This.

In 2012, Ocasek released Lyrics and Prose, a complete collection of lyrics from his solo and Cars' albums.

In May 2018, Porizkova announced she and Ric Ocasek had separated a year earlier.

Ric Ocasek had six sons, two from each of his three marriages.

Ric Ocasek was found dead on September 15,2019, by his estranged wife, Paulina Porizkova, at his New York City townhouse, which they still shared following their separation in 2017.

The Chief Medical Examiner office reported that Ric Ocasek died from natural causes.

Ric Ocasek suffered from both hypertensive heart and coronary artery disease.

Porizkova and Ric Ocasek were still in the process of their divorce, but he had disinherited her in a new will, alleging that before his recent surgery she had abandoned him.