Ric Ocasek & Paulina Porizkova: Inside Their 35 Year Rock ‘N’ Roll Love Story

The death of Ric Ocasek has left the music world in shock. The 75-year-old frontman of the legendary new wave band, The Cars, was found dead in his New York home reportedly of natural causes, as previously shared by The Inquisitr.

Ocasek was discovered unconscious and unresponsive on late Sunday afternoon inside his Gramercy Park townhouse by his estranged wife of 30 years, Paulina Porizkova.

Ocasek and Porizkova first met in 1984 on a set when the model was cast in the video for The Cars single, “Drive.” For 18-year-old Paulina, it was love “before” first sight as she had been crushing on Ric after watching him on MTV, despite the fact that the singer was married at the time. Ocasek ultimately left his wife, Suzanne, and five years later, he married Paulina in a ceremony held on the Caribbean island of St. Barts on August 23, 1989.

The Cars frontman and his supermodel wife were sometimes dubbed “Beauty and the Beast” in the press. Indeed, at the time of their wedding, Entertainment Weekly noted that Paulina, a supermodel known for her Sports Illustrated swimsuit covers, described Ric as “a combination of Mr. Spock, David Bowie, Jesus Christ, and Chopin.”

As for their Beauty and the Beast persona, Ocasek once joked to Paulina, “It’s okay, honey. I don’t think you’re a beast.”

The couple went on to have two sons together, Jonathan, born in 1993, and Oliver, born in 1999, and they often posed together as a family.

In a 2015 interview with Yahoo, Paulina hinted at trouble in her marriage.

“It’s always challenging with two people with separate careers. I know models and rock stars have a rep. It’s hard when you spend a lot of time apart. Sometimes you risk growing apart.”

And last year, after 28 years of marriage, Paulina took to Instagram to reveal the celebrity couple had been quietly separated for a year. Just two weeks after the couple appeared happily together in Cleveland at The Cars’ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Paulina revealed that she and her rock star husband no longer pedaled in “unison.”

The model made it clear that they still were a family, just no longer a couple. You can see her statement below.

After her split from Ocasek, Paulina told Closer Weekly that she didn’t think she’d ever find a love like she had with Ric ever again.

“I feel like I’ve had my soulmate,” she said.

You can see Ric Ocasek and Paulina Porizkova in The Cars’ “Drive” video below.