Ric Ocasek

Ric Ocasek was the cool, unreadable heart of the Cars, and I have always loved how he made detachment sound warm. His genius was fusing icy new-wave synths with melodies sweet enough to live on pop radio, a balance almost nobody else nailed so consistently. As a producer he had an ear for raw talent, shaping records well beyond his own band. The Baltimore-born frontman passed in 2019, but those songs still feel like neon glowing on a wet street at midnight. For me he is proof that restraint, done right, can be the most expressive thing in rock.

Name (English)

Ric Ocasek

Name (Japanese)

リック・オケイセック

Reading

りっく・おけいせっく

Born

March 23, 1949 – September 15, 2019

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aries / Ox

Origin

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Occupation

singer-songwriter / musician / singer / guitarist / record producer

High school

Maple Heights High School

• Official sitehttps://www.ricocasek.com
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ric%20Ocasek
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AA%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AA%E3%82%B1%E3%82%A4%E3%82%BB%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q526406

Tags

• Maryland
• singer-songwriter
• musician
• singer

Last updated

2026-06-16

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.