Cars Co-Founder Orr Dead at 53

October 5, 2000 -- Benjamin Orr, singer-bassist for new wave icons the Cars, died Tuesday night in his Atlanta home, after a five-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 53.

Orr and Ric Ocasek formed the seminal Boston band, which would go on to score six Top 20 albums and 13 Top 40 singles, in 1976. Praised by critics for balancing cool cynicism with impeccable pop instincts, the quintet sold over 6 million copies worldwide of it's first two albums, 1978's The Cars and the 1979 follow-up Candy-O. Orr sang lead on many of the group's biggest songs, including "Just What I Needed," "Let's Go," and the 1984 No. 3 hit "Drive."

Born Benjamin Orzechowski in Cleveland in 1947, he first cut his teeth as a member of teenage ensemble the Grasshoppers, the house band for a regional American Bandstand-style TV program. After relocating to Boston, Orr made his recording debut on the lone 1973 album by the trio Milkwood, which also featured Ocasek. Ocasek and Orr continued working together in a series of bands, leading up to the Cars' public debut on New Year's Eve in 1977.

Orr remained with the quintet until its final dissolution in 1988. He also recorded as a solo artist, releasing a single album, The Lace, in 1986, and scoring a Top 30 single in January of the following year with "Stay the Night."

Recently, Orr had been playing with a new ensemble, Big People, featuring alumni from .38 Special, Damn Yankees, Ted Nugent, and Billy Joel. The group performed its last gig on Sept. 27, in Alaska.

Orr is survived by his fiancée, Julie Snider, and a 5-year-old son, Ben, from a previous marriage.