David and Greg add their funny quips and Ben is largely silent, just like the old days. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. been playing with his new band, Big People, right up until late September, including a final show in Alaska on September 27. He said that Orr was “his hot sauce partner” and related how they became close friends the time they played together. “Ben was the real rock star of the band,” Hawke said. Benjamin Orr and The Cars and realized just what an incredibly strong, courageous statement this final interview makes by Benjamin. One fan left a comment on YouTube sharing that she listened to the interview with earbuds while doing chores and she was better able to focus on the content of the discussion. Then I read Joe’s biography Let’s Go! He was 53. The fact that they were all together again touched a deep chord in the hearts of Cars fans. It was the only show that he missed, which is indicated in the book. According to former Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes, Orr was surrounded by his friends when he passed away just before midnight (ET). ~ Joe and Donna. Rossi, who currently plays in a Cleveland-based band called the Baskerville Hounds, dedicated a poem to Orr that his mother left behind before she died last year. During the interview (easily found on YouTube) we see a shockingly gaunt Orr surrounded by his bandmates at a seemingly happy reunion. On October 5, 2000, ABC News published an obituary for Ben that, among other details, claimed that he played his last show with Big People on September 27, 2000, in Alaska, less than a week before he passed away. As told in Joe Milliken’s book, Let’s Go! Thanks for sharing this, Donna. It’s also possible that they did the interview on the 24th and then flew out that day; I’m just not sure. And re-reading with everything I know now, feels like it will be good for me. “When I think of Ben and all that he meant to me, language is just inadequate,” she said. Milliken interviewed Orr's school mates, everyone in The … Matuska described Orr as a “brother” and then went to praise his geniality. We have since clarified with Big People band member, Jeff Carlisi, that Ben’s last performance was indeed on that August 25 date. By all public accounts, amends were made. Benjamin Orr, singer and bassist with new wave hitmakers the Cars, succumbed to cancer at his home in Atlanta on Tuesday night. Although David, Greg, Ric, and Elliot were all aware that Ben was sick before they arrived, each of them has since expressed that they were taken off guard when they first saw him, having to face the finality of the devastating progression of his illness. Still, he is attentive and involved, and chimes in when he wants to, and from time to time he flashes that gorgeous smile. I really wanted to know more but it is what it is and I will take what I can get. “I think they all stepped back and said ‘This is crazy. ❤, 20 years already! A live feed was broadcast in the main lobby so that museum visitors could watch the proceedings. Orr, who … My god, it’s been 20 years . This may not have been the best album, and knowing there was extreme difficulty between Ben & Ric gives it a bitter taste. Facebook page and published it on January 3, 2020. Various other media outlets also picked up that information and it has been widely circulated – and relied upon by Ben/Cars’ fans – ever since. Still, the men fell back into step and determined to keep things light and positive. Almost all of them spoke of how Orr treated them as family, whether they were blood relatives or not. I do feel the same way about this interview and Benjamin. ( Log Out / Cars keyboardist Greg Hawke recalled meeting Orr in 1973 when Orr and Cars singer/guitarist Ric Ocasek were recording their first album as Milkwood (Hawke played keyboards on the band’s debut). #Neverenough, Beautiful thoughts, my friend. He recalled the different events that led up to his joining the Cars in 1977. And I really love them, I think they are great!! The first speaker, Chris Kamburoff, had played with Orr in Mixed Emotions, a band that preceded the Cars by several years, and he led the audience through the “Our Father” prayer after saying, “Benjamin will live on.”. ❤. He wanted things to continue on as normally as possible, until they couldn’t anymore. . Benjamin Orzechowski (known as Ben Orr) played in numerous bands before finding fame in the late Seventies and Eighties with the Cars. This reunion was the first time the members of The Cars had assembled in over a decade. I think that is a terrific idea for those that can’t get past the visual change in Ben. :O I’ve only known The Cars for ten years, well ‘officially’ since I had heard and seen them around before, but you know what I mean – my brothers and I ‘got into them’ in 2010. He went on doing what he loved until he no longer could and I feel he did this interview to be with his former band brothers and also to leave something behind for all his fans and I feel if he had the strength to do this, well, then I have no excuse but to honour Benjamin by watching this and I did. Looking forward to another year of joy and happiness (along with heartache and unrelenting angst) spending time, and very likely learning more. I always wondered about this as I would love to hear the whole unedited version. He desired peace, and he desired to give pleasure to his fans. As previously reported by MTV News, Orr, born Benjamin Orzechowski on September 8, 1947, had been hospitalized last May with what turned out to be inoperable pancreatic cancer (see "The Cars' Benjamin Orr Hospitalized"). Send us a tip using our anonymous form. The memorial commenced with an introduction by Michael Stanley, who recalled the various occasions on which he had met Orr and described him as a “cross between Elvis and Paul McCartney.” Throughout the course of the evening, Stanley would introduce speakers with a certain levity (he made numerous jokes about their deteriorating eyesight) and continually expressed his admiration for Orr. on a new DVD documentary, "The Cars Live," scheduled for release through Rhino Home Video on November 1. From what I understand, Ben flew right from this interview in Atlanta, Georgia, to Palmer, Alaska, for his last performance, playing the August 25th show at the Alaska State Fair. It is the perfect time to watch. I have not listened to Door to Door since last August in order to save a few songs for now. Wow! Their interplay seems very much the way it always used to be, with Ric doing the lion’s share of the talking and Elliot right behind. Tributes to Benjamin Orr and cards to friends and family will be accepted by Crossover Entertainment Group, 2020 Howell Mill Road, Suite C, Atlanta, GA, 30318. I treasure them. I love imagining about that. The final speaker was Orr’s fiancé, Julie Snider, who had organized the memorial. Ben seemed very much at peace with the world,” Dudas said about his last conversation with Orr, about a year ago. A side note about Ben’s final performance: I learned this past winter that there was a discrepancy over the date of the last show Ben performed. He didn’t want special treatment, he didn’t complain, he never faltered. The memorial concluded with a moving slide show, which featured pictures of Orr from infancy through his various bands, to the musical accompaniment of the Orr-sung Cars song “Drive” and Orr’s own “Stay the Night.”. Although we surely want to bring this correct information to light, we are also distressed, as pieces of the narrative in “Let’s Go!” relied upon the previously circulated news information, along with individual interviews, to describe Ben’s last days, including anchoring the date of his final interview with The Cars. You are so right , his incredible spirit shines through and I find he is so beautiful as his courage is such an incredible thing to witness. He wasn’t ashamed of his appearance, he didn’t even fully conceal his eyes. As I have spent this year learning everything possible about Ben and The Cars and Ben after the cars, I feel like I have all the information I need to know the details of what they reminisced about. The interview took place at Turner Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, where Ben was living with Julie Snider. It is a hard to view the last video, but it is comforting to see amends were made and they were able to move past their prior issues. He also added that Big People did play one more show on September 27, however, it was in Texas and Ben was not there. Actually that whole comment that he made about that subject said a lot about him. Orr was born Ben Orzechowski in Lakewood and went to Valley Forge High School in Parma. But these songs are Ben’s last gift to the Cars era. But I would like to say to fans , please watch the interview if you can ❤ It is apparent that the band members watched that concert before the camera started rolling, as Milano opens by asking them how it felt to see that show 22 years later. Do you think he got too emotional , or did he say something that was deemed controversial? ( Log Out / “In all that time I knew Ben, he and I never had an angry word for each other,” he said. ©2020 Viacom International Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Though his body is ravaged, the strength of his incredible spirit shines beautifully in this final interview. Ben was strong right up to the end. But this reunion brought peace. There are some obvious edits to the footage which leave you hanging a bit, most notably at 33:26, when I wish we could hear more of Ben’s thoughts on the duality of his life as a rock star vs. a regular guy. ( Log Out / On the morning I heard Ben died, I put on a couple of Cars albums — which I hadn’t done in some time — just to hear his voice.”. ~Alexandria , Thank you dear Donna for this. The Cars disbanded in 1988. I saw how lovely his smile remained and how he summoned his charisma, his wit, his modesty moved me and to hear about how he felt about fame. Ben’s illness does cast a pall, though, as you can see that he is very frail and tired. Donations to the Benjamin Orr Memorial Fund can be sent to at Box 600590, Newtonville, MA, 02460. I’m not sure of the exact date, but this week marks the 20th anniversary of The Cars’ final interview. I have yet to watch this video. The Cars and Bob Seger: Yay for Snowstorms! Big People was actually booked to play at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, Alaska, on August 25, 2000, not in late September. Benjamin Orr The Lace “The reason it took me so long to do a solo project is that nobody asked me to do one before…” — Benjamin Orr, Chicago Tribune (1986) Visit my neck of the woods — Boston, Massachusetts — and talk to any music fan about The Cars. Orr co-founded the Cars with Ric Ocasek in Boston in 1976 and sang lead on many of the band's most recognizable songs, including "Drive" and "Just What I Needed." At a gathering at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Nov. 10, about 150 friends and relatives came together to remember him. Want more Rolling Stone? I hope you can embrace it, too. Other speakers included Rock & Roll Hall of Fame programming director David Spero, who recalled seeing the Grasshoppers play at his bar mitzvah; Tom Hambridge, who played in the Ben Orr Band; Cars drummer David Robinson; Orr’s niece Lisa Danowski; and representatives from the National Pancreas Foundation. ( Log Out / Happy anniversary to you! "Ben kept rocking," bandmate Carlisi told MTV News. Members of that band, as well as many others, were present at the private event, which was held in the Hall’s small fourth-floor theater. He didn’t hide in the shadows. Ben was what I call a feel-good person. These five men had labored together to reach the highest heights of fame and fortune only to have their brotherly bond disintegrate. Played in numerous bands before finding fame in the late Seventies and Eighties with the Cars, to. 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