Benjamin Orr
Benjamin Orr ( born September 8, 1947 in Lakewood, Ohio; † October 3, 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia), actually Benjamin Orzechowski, was an American singer and bass player and member of the band The Cars.
Life
Orr, who was Russian and Czechoslovakian origin, learned as a teenager several instruments, including guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. He left high school early and joined the band The Grasshoppers as lead singer and guitarist. In 1965, the band released two singles. Two years later it was dissolved, as he and other members were drafted into the U.S. Army.
1970 Orr moved to Columbus, where he met Ric Ocasek and with this, and the guitarist Jas Goodkind founded the band Milkwood. In 1972 published the first and only album was commercially unsuccessful, and in 1975 the band was dissolved. The following year, he founded the band with Ocasek The Cars. He played bass and took on some tracks even the vocals, including on the most commercially successful single drive, which reached 1984 # 3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
→ Main article: The Cars
1986 published Orr at Elektra Records his solo debut album The Lace, which reached # 86 on the album charts. The first single, Stay the Night reach the Top 40, also he was being awarded an ASCAP Award. However, the next single could not place in the charts themselves. 1988 The Cars disbanded, and Orr began with the recording for a second solo album, which was never published.
In April 2000, cancer was found in Orr, where he died in October of the same year.