The Cars |
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Wed. October 04.2000 6:02 PM EDT |
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The Cars' Benjamin Orr Dead At 53Singer/bassist had inoperable pancreatic cancer. |
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Benjamin Orr, far left, sang such Cars hits as "Drive." (George Holz 1984) |
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MTV News Online Benjamin Orr, singer and bassist with new-wave rock band the Cars, died of cancer Tuesday at his home in Atlanta. He was 53. Orr, born Benjamin Orzechowski on Sept. 8, 1947, had been hospitalized
According to former Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes, Orr was surrounded by his friends when he died late Tuesday night. Orr co-founded the Cars with Ric Ocasek in Boston in 1976 and sang lead on many of the band's most recognizable songs, including "Drive" (RealAudio excerpt) and "Just What I Needed" (RealAudio excerpt). The Cars disbanded in 1988. Orr also released a solo album in 1986 called The Lace. A spokesperson for Ocasek said the singer/guitarist was "very devastated by the loss of a close friend." The singer had been playing with his new band, Big People, until late September, including a final show on Sept. 27 in Alaska. His Big People bandmates, Jeff Carlisi (formerly of .38 Special), Derek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent) and Rob Wilson, along with Orr's manager, Billy Johnson, and Orr's fiancee, Julie Snider, were with him in Atlanta when he died. "Ben kept rocking," Carlisi said. "From the time he was diagnosed, he told us he wanted to keep playing until the end. He said, 'If I fall down one day and can't get up, you'll know its over.' " The group will now turn a planned March of Dimes benefit concert, scheduled for Friday at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, into a memorial performance. According to Orr's manager, another event is being planned in Cleveland, Orr's hometown. Orr had reunited with his former Cars bandmates — Ocasek, Hawkes, Elliot Easton and David Robinson — over the summer for an interview to be included on a new DVD documentary, "The Cars Live," scheduled for release through Rhino Home Video on Nov. 1. Rhino will donate a portion of the profits to the National Pancreas Foundation. Tributes to Orr and cards to friends and family will be accepted by Crossover Entertainment Group, 2020 Howell Mill Road, Suite C, Atlanta, GA 30318. Donations to the Benjamin Orr Memorial Fund can be sent to Box 600590, Newtonville, MA 02460. — Sorelle Saidman, with additional reporting by Kara Manning [This story was updated at 7:44 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2000.] |
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