[Photo: Red Hot Chili Peppers/Steve Keros, Ric Ocasek/Wikimedia Commons]

Red Hot Chili Peppers perform The Cars tribute in honor of late Ric Ocasek

September 24, 2019

[Photo: Red Hot Chili Peppers/Steve Keros, Ric Ocasek/Wikimedia Commons]

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have honored the late co-founder of The Cars, Ric Ocasek, by covering the band’s track “Just What I Needed”.

The Chili Peppers join the Killers and blink-182 artist Mark Hoppus with tributes to Ocasek.

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On Sunday, the lead singer of the iconic rock band tragically passed away at his home in New York City at the age of 75.

After his death, fellow musicians and artists shared an outpour of love, tributes and condolences for the late singer.

Now, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have unveiled their own special tribute with the rendition of “Just What I Needed”. They performed it in Singapore on Sunday night. You can see a video of the cover below.

As previously stated, the Killers also performed a tribute to Ocasek following his death. The cover took place at the band’s show in Bethlehem, PA. They stopped in the middle of their track “All These Things That I’ve Done” to perform “My Best Friend’s Girl”. You can see it below.

Also, Hoppus released a hauntingly beautiful cover of the Cars track “Just What I Needed” via SoundCloud.

“A couple years ago, I was asked to record a creepy cover of ‘Just What I Needed’ for a TV show,” Hoppus shares in the cover’s description. “They wanted moody and strange, dark, and drony, with space for dialogue to go over it. I went into the studio with my friend James Ingram and this is what we came up with.

“The show was cancelled so quickly the episode never aired, but if you can imagine a grim and grizzled detective determinedly working a murder case that shook them to the very core of their being, this is the music the show requested. It’s been sitting on a hard drive ever since, and with the sad news of Ric Ocasek’s passing, I thought I’d put it up here. Enjoy it. And go listen to The Cars.”