Legendary rock-and-roller Ric Ocasek was found dead in New York City on Sunday. While he rose to prominence as the frontman and lead songwriter for the 1980’s new-wave band the Cars, responsible for hits such as “Just What I Needed” and “My Best Friend’s Girl,” he also greatly influenced the music world as a producer. 

Ocasek has production credits on two of Weezer’s multi-platinum self-titled albums, the “Blue Album” and the “Green Album,” which created and defined the band’s multi-decade-long career, as well as also producing their 2011 record “Everything Will Be Alright in the End.”

Preceding his work with Weezer, Ocasek produced the second full-length LP by D.C.-based punk band Bad Brains, “Rock for Light,” and many records for the electronic duo Suicide. Ocasek would go on to produce singles and full-length albums for groups like Hole, No Doubt, Le Tigre, Guided by Voices, Motion City Soundtrack and many other groups in the new-wave, punk and alternative halls of fame.

Ocasek created and produced countless prominent and defining pieces of rock history. His influence and sound will be greatly missed and remembered by artists and fans alike. The six time Grammy Award-nominee was 75 years old when he died of natural causes in his Manhattan apartment.