October 5 -- 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 ...

In his acceptance speech, Ocasek paid tribute to Orr. “It’s hard not to notice that Benjamin Orr is not here. He would have been elated to be here on this stage, in his hometown,” he said.

We’re pretty much a dysfunctional family.” It wasn’t always that way. Ocasek, from Baltimore, and Ben Orr, from Cleveland, got together in the early 70s when they moved to Boston.

While Ocasek and Cars bassist/vocalist and longtime musical partner Benjamin Orr had struggled for many years without success, in 1978 the Boston-based band hit it big - and fast.