https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/R ... 30391.html

This is a real punch in the gut

A sad day indeed.

R,I.P.

RIP.

RIP Ric

Ric Ocasek, the lead singer of iconic new wave rock band The Cars, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Sunday, law enforcement sources told The Post. He was 75 years old.

Ocasek was discovered unconscious and unresponsive at around 4:14 p.m. inside his Gramercy Park pad by his estranged wife, Paulina Porizkova, sources said.

He appeared to have died from natural causes, sources added.

Ocasek and his seminal new wave band The Cars shot to fame with their self-titled hit album in the 1978, which included hits such as “My Best Friend’s Girl” and “Just What I Needed.”

The singer reflected on his years in the band when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.

“It’s certainly a wonderful feeling to be accepted by peers and you see the people that are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, who gets inducted, it’s a positive feeling that you get,” Ocasek said in an interview with Rolling Stone.

From 1978 to 1987, the band churned out six records — “five of which are good-to-great,” said Erik Adams, an AV Club music critic, in a 2018 article.

“And then there are The Cars, the type of band that put out a perfect debut record, and then had the audacity to not pack it in after that,” the critic wrote.

In 1984, the band received another notable accolade, winning MTV’s “Video of the Year” award for its hit song off its 5th album, “You Might Think.”

After a long hiatus, the band reunited in 2011 and released an album called “Move Like This.” It was the band’s first, and only, album without late- bassist Benjamin Orr, who died in 2000.

Ocasek had recently placed the home where he was found on the market after he and Porizkova announced their split in May 2018.

The pair — who shared two children together — had been together for 28 years when they separated.

This is a sad one. That "You Might Think" video is vivid in my mind's eye forever. RIP Ric and thank you.

Wow, shocking indeed. I would not have thought he was 75....

R.I.P.

RIP

Rest easily, and thanks for the music.

The Cars are a band who I adore to this day and it was all due to Ric's writing.

I have everything they've ever released.

What a sad loss and now he and Ben are united up there somewhere.

R.I.P.

Heard Kasim Sulton sing The Cars song ‘Drive’ last night before we heard the news today. He talked about the New Cars and how Rick didn’t want to be involved.

RIP Rick, the soundtrack to my life at one point during freshman year in college.

Very sad. Goodbye, Ric. Rest in peace,

R.I.P., Rick.

Heartbreaking. One of my very favorite bands of the era. Ric was always interesting and married my dream girl.

RIP. This was a total shock to me. I loved the Cars’ first two albums - what a strong way to come out of the gate.

R.I.P. thanks for the music.

Sad news
R.I.P

Sad day for sure. RIP

R.I.P.

This is heartbreaking news.

Stunned. This is the most out-of-the-blue body blow to me since Petty. The Cars have been one of my most favorite bands since the release of their 1st album, and the iPods in my gym bag and car are both full of their music. The day virtually does not go by that I don't hear a Cars song. RIP, Ric, and thank you, thank you, thank you for all of them.

RIP Mr. Ocasek, and thanks for making the radio waves at least a wee bit more open to new sounds.

Damn. Thanks for the music.

Just to show that there are no coincidences in life.....

I was doing the LA Times crossword in the Washington Post this morning as I was listening to The Cars catalog in honor of Ric
when I come to 54 down - 'Rocker Ocasek' three letters....

Keeping in mind this had to have been created and printed well before last nights' news about his passing.....