Benjamin Orr
October 5, 2000
To all fans of the Cars and visitors to Heartbeat City, it is with great regret that I inform you that Benjamin Orr passed away on Tuesday, October 3, 2000. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer since April of this year. He died in his home in Atlanta just before midnight.
Rumors that Ben was ill began going around a few months ago on the Frozen Fire mailing list when fans first heard that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. However, Ben continued to tour with his band, Big People, and gave excellent performances, and seemed fine. Still fans could see than Ben was looking thinner and weaker. The news of his death broke on the Frozen Fire mailing list on Wednesday (October 4). Being in a hurry, I was only skimming though e-mail when I saw a message with the subject line "Ben's Death." I backed up a few messages and found an e-mail from Greg Hawkes that had been forwarded to the list informing us that Ben had died. It was followed by several condolences by fans.
The sad news traveled fast, with reports on Ben's passing being broadcast on radio, television, and online. Thursday morning, unbeknownst to each other, my boyfriend, Alan and I were both listening to WPLJ's "The Big Show with Scott and Todd" as we drove to work and heard a special tribute to Ben. Like others, they mentioned that Ben had recently performed at venues including Rye Playland, and that their renditions of the Cars' hits sounded just has they did when performed by the Cars years ago. They mentioned Ben's fame with the Cars, and his solo work as well. After commercials, they played the Cars' classic, "Just What I Needed" followed by Ben's solo hit, "Stay the Night." Alan told me later that afternoon that he cried when he heard "Stay the Night", just as I did.
Before his death, Ben reunited with the four other members of the Cars to record their first interview together since 1987 which can be purchased as part of the video and DVD release, "The Cars Live", a recording a 1978 Cars concert in Germany.
Since first hearing if Ben's death, I have received several e-mails from concerned fans and visitors of Heartbeat City asking for any details on what happened. I apologize for not keeping Heartbeat City as up-to-date as its been in the past, and visitors to my Dream Valley web site have already been informed that the delays have been due to the fact that Alan and I have recently moved into a new house. I have taken the time out of my busy schedule to write this tribute to Ben, as it was my Heartbeat City website and a shared interest in the Cars' music that brought Alan to me.
I had the pleasure of meeting Ben in 1997 on two occasions: first in Fairfax,Virginia, and then in the Cars hometown of Boston with his last band, ORR, both at the invitation of John Kalishes, a close friend of Ben, and at the time, a member of the band. Ben was as friendly and sweet as you can imagine, and my only regret is that this took place before Alan and I met, and we never got the chance to see Ben in concert together.
Ben's memory will live on in his music and with fans for years to come. Ben, you will be deeply missed.
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