Benjamin Orr was the co-founder, co-lead singer, and bassist for the new wave rock band, The Cars. Born and raised in the Cleveland area, he burst onto the music scene at an early age, playing guitar and singing with The Grasshoppers on the nationally-syndicated television show, Upbeat, at the age of 17. In 1977, after years of experimenting with different bands, Benjamin founded The Cars with songwriter Ric Ocasek, and the band’s debut album took the radio waves by storm. Though his name may not be as well-known as the conspicuous Ocasek, Benjamin’s voice attracted the fans to many of their greatest hits over the next ten years, including, “Just What I Needed,” “Let’s Go,” “Moving In Stereo,” and the iconic “Drive.”

Benjamin Orr died of pancreatic cancer on October 3, 2000, less than six months after his diagnosis. He was only 53 years old. It is in tribute to him, and in honor of his 75th birthday on September 8, 2022, that we are raising awareness and funds for PanCan.org. We believe that this celebrates his life and legacy in a way that Ben might if he was here to do it himself: by advancing pancreatic cancer research and changing the outcome for someone else.  

Credit card is the preferred method of donation. However, if your only option is by check, you can mail in a donation to pancan.org using this form: http://media.pancan.org/org/pancan_donation_form.pdf If you write "BENJAMIN ORR @ 75 CELEBRATION & PANCAN FUNDRAISER" on the top of the form they will add your donation to our goal.

For international donations from outside of North America, please call PanCan at (310) 725-0025 weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. PST and their Customer Service team will be happy to help you! (If you call after hours or on the weekend, you will need to leave a message and they will return your call on the following business day to assist you.)