“Heart Disease” Was The Cause Of Ric Ocasek’s Death

He Was A Visionary

On September 15, The Cars frontman and co-founder Ric Ocasek was found dead in his townhouse on East 19th Street. Estranged wife supermodel Paulina Porizkova found him while she was bringing him coffee. They were separated last year but Ocasek had to undergo a surgery and so while he recuperated, Porizkova stayed at their home with their children to care for him. She said, “I touched his cheek to rouse him. It was then I realized that during the night he had peacefully passed on.”

The New York City medical examiner’s office gave a press release which revealed the cause of Ocasek’s death – hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with pulmonary emphysema as a contributing condition. Porizkova described it as “unexpected and untimely” since they expected him to fully recover.

The Cars rose to popularity in the late ’70s and continued to dominate both MTV and the airwaves all through the ’80s. In 2018, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Ocasek wrote most of their songs. He became a producer for several bands and artists and even dabbled in poetry when he wrote a 1993 book titled Negative Theatre. He made cameos in films like Hairspray and Made in Heaven.

Ocasek and Porizkova met in 1984 while shooting the music video for the 1984 hit Drive. They got married five years later in 1989 and had two children.