NEW YORK, Sept 16, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Ric Ocasek, frontman and lead singer
of New Wave innovators The Cars, was found dead on Sunday, US police said.
The New York Police Department said in a statement that they had received
a call at approximately 4:00 pm (2000 GMT) “for an unconscious male at East
19th Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene,” and the body was
identified as Ocasek.
There were no signs of foul play in the 75-year-old’s death, newspaper USA
Today reported.
Under Ocasek’s leadership, The Cars brought quirky electronic effects of
New Wave to classically structured pop songs, generating a string of hits
such as “You Might Think,” “Shake It Up,” and “Drive” in the 1980s.
After breaking up later on in the decade, the band reunited in 2011 after
Ocasek wrote new songs he believed would sound best if played with his old
bandmates, USA Today said.
Last year, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along
with Bon Jovi, the Moody Blues, Dire Straits, Nina Simone and Sister Rosetta
Tharpe.