The Cars
The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. They emerged from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, and their lineup included Ric Ocasek (rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards), and David Robinson (drums). Ocasek and Orr shared lead vocals, with Ocasek serving as the band's principal songwriter and leader.
The Cars were known for their blend of rock, pop, and new wave, which appealed to a broad audience. Their musical style was a fusion of punk minimalism, art rock's synthesizer and guitar textures, '50s rockabilly revival, and power pop's melodious terseness. This unique mix helped them stand at the forefront of the transition from 1970s guitar-oriented rock to the synthesizer-oriented pop of the early 1980s.
The band's debut album, "The Cars," was a significant success, selling six million copies and remaining on the Billboard 200 album chart for 139 weeks. They achieved four Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: "Shake It Up," "You Might Think," "Drive," and "Tonight She Comes." Notably, they won the first MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year with "You Might Think" in 1984.
The Cars disbanded in 1988, and during this hiatus, Benjamin Orr passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2000. In 2007, Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes joined Todd Rundgren to form The New Cars. The original members reunited to record their final album, "Move Like This," in 2011 and toured to support it. In April 2018, The Cars were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, reuniting to perform at the ceremony. This was their final performance before Ric Ocasek's death in 2019.
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