NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Independent music publish Primary Wave announced a new partnership with the Estate of Ric Ocasek, frontman and principle songwriter of the legendary New Wave band The Cars.
The deal will see Primary Wave partner with the Estate on Ocasek’s publishing catalog, including all songs from his tenure with the Cars, along with all of the music he released as a solo artist.
Additionally, Primary Wave will have a stake in his name, image, and likeness rights, and provide marketing team and publishing support for new marketing, branding, digital, and synch opportunities, as well as film & television projects.
With a career that spans five years, Ocasek sold more than 20 million records with the Cars, including more than 10 Top Ten hits. Over the course of his career, Ocasek and the Cars were nominated for six Grammys and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
The catalog includes hits such as “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Let The Good Times Roll,” and “Let’s Go” as well as “Drive” which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984.
Ocasek’s solo albums included Beatitude (1982), Fireball Zone (1990), Troublizing (1997) and Nexterday (2005) and artistic work includes 2012’s Lyrics & Prose, a book of poetry, lyrics and drawings, and, in 2017, a series of fine art gallery shows of his paintings and prints.
Ocasek died in 2019 from complications of hypertensive heart and coronary artery disease.
