Benjamin Orr (né Orzechowski, September 8, 1947 – October 3, 2000) was an American musician. He was best known as the bassist, co-lead vocalist, and co-founder of the band the Cars. He sang lead vocals on several of their hits, including "Just What I Needed", "Let's Go", "Moving in Stereo", and "Drive". He also had the solo hit "Stay the Night".
Orr was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars in 2018.
Benjamin Orzechowski was born in Lakewood, Ohio, to immigrant parents. His mother, Elizabeth (née Alžbeta Benová), was Carpatho-Rusyn, born in present-day Kojšov, Slovakia, and his father, Charles Orzechowski, was of Polish origin, born in what is now present-day Ukraine. Both were devout Byzantine Rite Catholics and Ben's mother would not allow him to drive his first car until the local clergy had blessed it. His family enthusiastically supported his musical endeavors. He became proficient in several instruments, including the guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, and drums.
Known locally as "Benny 11 Letters", he grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, and Parma, Ohio and attended Valley Forge High School before joining local band the Grasshoppers in 1964.
Formed in Cleveland, Ohio, the Grasshoppers were an instrumental-based foursome. Their featured band members were Louis Pratile (lead guitar), Jerry Zadar (bass guitar), and Sid Turner (drummer). They were joined by the then-17-year-old Orzechowski, who became their lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and sometimes doubled as a drummer.
In 1965, the Grasshoppers released two singles on the Sunburst label: "Mod Socks" and "Pink Champagne (and Red Roses)", the latter written by Orzechowski.
The Grasshoppers (and later the Mixed Emotions) were also the house band on the Big 5 Show, more commonly known as Upbeat, a musical variety television show produced by WEWS-TV in Cleveland.
The Grasshoppers dissolved in 1966 when two of the band members were drafted into the U.S. Army. Orzechowski then played in the band Mixed Emotions, which featured Joe Kurelic (drummer), Chris Kamburoff (rhythm guitar), David Gardina (bass guitar), and Jimmy Vince with Orzechowski (lead guitar) as lead vocalists. The band recorded three unreleased tracks: "Forever You Have My Heart", "I'll Do My Cryin' in the Rain" and "I Can't Help It".
He later joined another band, the Colours. Eventually Orzechowski was drafted as well, although he received a deferment after approximately a year and a half in the Army.
Various groups: ID Nirvana, Leatherwood
Orr first met Ric Ocasek in Cleveland in the mid-1960s, after Ocasek saw Orr performing with the Grasshoppers on the Big 5 Show. A few years later, Orr moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he and Ocasek formed a musical partnership that would continue in various incarnations (until the break-up of the Cars in 1988). In the late 1960s, they formed the bands ID Nirvana and Leatherwood, performing in and around Ohio State University (OSU).
In the early 1970s, after moving to Boston, Massachusetts, the two musicians formed the folk rock trio Milkwood with guitarist Jim Goodkind. The group was named after the Dylan Thomas verse play Under Milk Wood (1954). In 1972, the group released one studio album, How's the Weather? under Paramount Records which failed to chart. From the list of songs on the album, Orr wrote "Lincoln Park".
Various groups: Ocasek & Orr, Richard and the Rabbits
Remaining in Boston, the duo Ocasek and Orr then formed another band, Richard and the Rabbits, featuring keyboardist Greg Hawkes.
This was followed by another Ocasek and Orr band, Cap'n Swing, "an almost famous band". The additional band members included guitarist Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes, Todd Roberto, Danny (Schliftman) Louis, and Glenn Evans.
They would perform songs such as "City Lights", "Jezebel", "Strawberry Moonlight", "Will You Still Love Me Tonight", and "Come Back Down". A few of these songs would make an appearance in the early days of the Cars, in 1977. In later years, there was a CD released labeled the Jezebel album, which contained demos.
After the group broke up in 1976, Orr, Ocasek, Hawkes, Easton and drummer David Robinson formed the Cars.
As a member of the Cars, Orr sang lead vocals on some of the band's best-known songs, including their first hit in the top 40, "Just What I Needed", "Let's Go", and "Drive", their highest-charting single in the United States.