According to reports, Frank Ocean’s younger brother, Ryan Breaux, has died following a car crash in Thousand Oaks, California. ABC 7 confirmed that a fiery accident occurred just after 1:30 a.m. on Sunday. The cause of the deadly crash remains under investigation. The incident took place on Westlake Boulevard where the car was said to be going southbound before straying off the road and striking a tree in the center median.
The outlet explained that the single-vehicle crash was so intense, it caused the car to split in half. Both of the individuals who were inside the automobile were pronounced dead at the scene by the Ventura County Fire Department, though the names were not confirmed. Clash Music later reported that it was, indeed, Ocean’s brother who had been involved in the accident. A friend of Breaux’s also shared a tribute to him on Instagram, calling him “one of the most incredible people” she had ever known. As of this writing, Ocean has yet to make any public comment on the matter. Breaux’s last Instagram post was of him in the passenger side of a car on July 24 with the caption, “windy city.”
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Breaux was 18 years old and was one month away from celebrating his birthday on Sept. 1. Breaux had a few appearances in some of his brother’s music, including one song, “Futura Free,” where
he is heard at the end of the track being interviewed. It’s also suspected that Ocean’s song, “Orion,” is about Breaux. Lines from the song support this idea, including one in particular that reads, “But promise big bro one thing, that you don’t go wasting time.”
As for Ocean, who was set to play at Coachella this year before the pandemic, he has gone through a music career filled with highs, including his debut album called “Channel Orange” that won Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards. He picked up another Grammy Award that same year for his work in collaboration with Kanye West on “No Church in the Wild,” which also featured Jay-Z and The-Dream. One of the tracks on that album, “Thinkin Bout You,” earned a nomination for Record of the Year. It wasn’t until 2016 that he bounced back onto the scene with his second album. Growing up, Ocean moved to New Orleans when he was five before moving to Los Angeles.
