Tim McGraw on Ric Ocasek’s Death: ‘His Music Was Inspirational to Me’
Tim McGraw is speaking out about the death of the Cars' lead singer, Ric Ocasek, revealing the impact his music had on his own life.
Ocasek died on Sunday (Sept. 15), and McGraw turned to social media to share his thoughts on the singer and songwriter of the Cars, who had a profound and lasting influence on rock music with their mix of New Wave and pop stylings.
"Man ... so saddened to hear about the passing of Ric Ocasek, lead singer of @thecarsband, and legendary producer to many," McGraw writes on Twitter. "His music was inspirational to me. Our thoughts go out to all of his family, friends, and fans."
Ocasek died at his New York City apartment at the age of 75. According to CNN, his cause of death was hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with a contributing factor of pulmonary emphysema. Ocasek's estranged wife, supermodel Paulina Porizkova, found him dead while she was at his apartment with their children, caring for him following surgery.
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The Cars shot to fame in 1978 with the release of their self-titled debut album, which they followed up with a string of top-selling albums. Their hits included "Just What I Needed," "My Best Friend's Girl," "Good Times Roll," "You Might Think," "Magic" and "Drive," among many others.
McGraw's latest single is a cover of "Drive," which gave the Cars a No. 1 hit on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart and reached No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 when the band released the ballad as the third single from their Heartbeat City album in 1984. The country superstar revealed via Twitter that "Drive" was a song he used to cover back in his bar band days, saying, "it still reminds me of high school."
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