Ric Ocasek Biography

Ric Ocasek was an American singer-songwriter, musician as well as a record producer who is famous for being the founder member and lead vocalist of the rock band “the Cars”. The band released their self-entitled album in 1978 which appeared on the billboard 200 album chart for 139 weeks. With the Cars, Ocasek recorded seven solo albums including The Cars (1978), Candy-O (1979), Panorama (1980), Shake It Up (1981), Heartbeat City (1984), Door to Door (1987), Move Like This (2011). Also, he 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 the year 2018, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars. He released his first solo album “Beatitude” in 1982 which was followed by This Side of Paradise, Fireball Zone, Quick Change World, Negative Theater, Troublizing, and Nexterday in 2005. Beatitude Sadly, he dies on 15th September 2019 due to natural causes. 

Ric Ocasek Death Cause

Ric Ocasek dies on 15th September 2019. He was found dead by his estranged wife, Paulina Porizkova, at his New York City townhouse, which they still shared following their separation the previous May. He had been recovering from surgery. The Chief Medical Examiner’s office reported that Ocasek died from natural causes (cause of death). He suffered from both hypertensive heart and coronary artery disease. 

What is Ric Ocasek Famous For?

• Being a singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. 
• Being the primary co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the rock band ‘The Cars’. 

Where was Ric Ocasek From?

Ric Ocasek took birth on 23rd March 1944. He was from Baltimore, Maryland, the USA. His nationality was American and by ethnicity, he was American-White. He lastly celebrated his 75th birthday in 2019. Aries was his Zodiac sign and his religion was Christianity. His real name was Richard Theodore Ocasek. 

When Ric Ocasek was 16 years old, his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where his father worked as a systems analyst with NASA at the Lewis Research Center.

About his education, he graduated from Maple Heights High School in 1963. He shortly attended Antioch College and Bowling Green State University but dropped out to pursue a career in music.

Source: @bbc.com

Ric Ocasek Career Timeline

• Ric Ocasek met future Cars bassist Benjamin Orr in Cleveland in 1965 after Ocasek saw Orr performing with his band the Grasshoppers on the Big 5 Show, a local musical variety program. After some years, he reconnected with Orr and they began performing in and booking bands together. 
• In 1968, they formed a band called ID Nirvana. Later, they performed in and around Ohio State University. 
• After performing in various bands in Columbus and Ann Arbor, Michigan, they relocated to Boston in the early 1970s. 
• There, they formed a Crosby, Stills and Nash-style folk-rock band called “Milkwood”. 
• They also released one album, “How’s the Weather”, on Paramount Records in early 1973. 
• After Milkwood, he formed the group “Richard and the Rabbits” which include Ocasek and Orr. 
• Later, Ocasek and Orr teamed up with guitarist Elliot Easton in the band “Cap’n Swing”. After Cap’n Swing was rejected by several record labels, he got rid of the bass player and drummer and decided to form a band that better fit his style of writing. Orr next took over on bass and David Robinson, best known for his career with the Modern Lovers, became the drummer. Hawkes then came to play keyboards and the band became “the Cars” in late 1976. 
• He was a founding member of the Cars, recording numerous hit songs from 1978 to 1988. 
• He played rhythm guitar and sang lead vocals for a majority of songs (bassist Benjamin Orr was the lead vocalist on the remaining tracks). He was the oldest member of the band. 
• In the year 2010, he reunited with the surviving original members of the Cars to record their first album in 24 years. 
• The album, entitled “Move Like This”, was released on 10th May 2011.
• The Cars then resumed their hiatus and reunited once again in April 2018 for a performance at the ceremony of their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 
• Moreover, he developed a reputation as a producer, and took this role for many up-and-coming bands of different genres including Bad Brains’ “Rock for Light” and Guided by “Voices’ Do the Collapse”. 
• His other production credits include Weezer’s Blue Album and Green Album (both multi-platinum), Suicide, Romeo Void, Hole, Bebe Buell, No Doubt, Nada Surf, Irish folk-punk band Black 47, Bad Religion, Johnny Bravo, D Generation, the Wannadies, Possum Dixon, Martin Rev, Jonathan Richman, and the 2006 album by the Pink Spiders titled Teenage Graffiti. 
• Moreover, he produced a portion of the third Motion City Soundtrack album, Even If It Kills Me. 
• In the year 2014, he 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. 
• Regarding his solo career, he released his first solo album “Beatitude” in 1982. 
• “This Side of Paradise”, was released in the year 1986 which featured Hawkes, Elliot Easton, and Ben Orr. 
• A No. 15 hit single, “Emotion in Motion”, accompanied the album. 
• The Cars was then disbanded in 1988, and he disappeared from the public eye for a couple of years. 
• In 1990, he resurfaced with his own album, entitled “Fireball Zone”. 
• He further released other solo works during the decade, including 1993’s Quick Change World, 1996’s Getchertiktz (a collaboration with Suicide’s Alan Vega and Canadian poet Gillian McCain comprising only Beat poetry set to music, sound effects, etc.), and 1997’s Billy Corgan-produced Troublizing (which Ocasek supported with a very brief tour, his first since leaving the Cars). 
• In the year 2005, he released another album, “Nexterday”. 
• Besides this, he wrote a book of poetry in 1993 titled “Negative Theatre”. 
• He also had a cameo role as a beatnik painter in the John Waters film “Hairspray” (1988), and had a small part in the movie “Made in Heaven” (1987). 
• On 17th April 2006, he appeared on “The Colbert Report” and volunteered to put Todd Rundgren “on notice”. He appeared again on the July 26, 2006, episode to cheer from the audience as he volunteered to lead a commando mission to “rescue” Stephen Jr., the baby eagle at the San Francisco Zoo named after Stephen Colbert. 
• The Cars, with Ocasek, appeared on The Colbert Report on 9th August 2011, to promote their new album, “Move Like This”.
• In the year 2012, he released “Lyrics and Prose”, a complete collection of lyrics from his solo and Cars’ albums. The book also contains prose and poetry never set to music, as well as previously unpublished photographs and artwork.

How much was Ric Ocasek Net Worth?

Ric Ocasek was a very talented and successful singer who made a huge amount of money from her career work. As of 2022, the net worth of Ric Ocasek was estimated to have between in the range of $5 Million – $10 Million at the time of his death. His source of wealth was from music industry. His main source of wealth was from the music industry. Ric Ocasek and his wife, Paulina bought a 6,000 square feet townhouse that cost $2.5 Million in 1989 (New York). In January 2019, it was listed for $15.3 Million. They bought a 5.5-acre country property in NYC, 90 miles away from Millbrook, New York for $650K. In 2021, the dispute between Ocasek’s estate and Porizkova was settled; Porizkova commented “They gave me what is mine under New York state law, and we’re done.” 

Who was Ric Ocasek married to?

Ric Ocasek was a married man and he was married three times during his lifetime. His first wife, Constance divorced him in Ohio in the year 1971. In the same year, he married his second wife, Suzanne Ocasek. They were married for 17 years. During the filming of the music video for the Cars’ song “Drive” in the year 1984, he met 18-year-old Czech-born supermodel, Paulina Porizkova, while he was still married to Suzanne. Ocasek and Suzanne divorced in 1988. He later married Pauline Porizkova married on 23rd August 1989 on Saint-Barthélemy island. In May 2018, Porizkova announced she and Ocasek had separated a year earlier. About his children, Ocasek had six sons, two from each of his three marriages. His eldest son, Christopher (b. 1964), is a singer who formed the rock group Glamour Camp which released one album in 1989 and appeared as a solo artist in the film Pretty Woman (1990). His other children include Adam (b. 1970), Eron (b. 1973), Derek (b. 1981), Jonathan Raven (b. 1993), and Oliver (b. 1999). His sexual orientation was straight and he was not gay. 

Source: @pagesix.com

How tall was Ric Ocasek?

Ric Ocasek was a handsome singer. He stood at the height of 6 feet 4 inches or 1.93 m or 193 cm. His balanced bodyweight measured 84 Kg or 185 lbs. His biceps size was 16 and his body measurements was 43-32-36 (chest-waist-hips). His shoe size was 12 UK. His hair color was Grey-White and his eye color was Blue.