Frank Ocean’s 18-year-old Younger Brother, Ryan Breaux, Reportedly Dies in Car Accident

Grammy winning musician and producer, Frank Ocean’s younger brother, Ryan Breaux, is reported to have died in a car crash in California, early Sunday.

Reports about the crash

ABC News has not confirmed the names of the crash’s victims in their write-up, as they are choosing to wait until the families are notified. The publication wrote that two people were killed in a fiery wreck just after 1:30 a.m. on Sunday in Thousand Oaks, California. According to the initial investigation, the vehicle was traveling south on Westlake Boulevard when the car left the roadway and collided with a tree in the center median.

The force of the collision was so severe that it tore the car in half. The sheriff’s deputies reported that the car was engulfed in flames when they came upon it. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash. The two men are believed to be Ocean’s 18-year-old-brother and his friend Zeek Bishop who were pronounced dead at the scene by the Ventura County Fire Department. Ocean and his family are yet to comment publicly on the news.

Artists paying their tributes

Tributes to the singer and his mother, Katonya Breaux, filled social media following the news of Breaux’s death with artists paying their tributes to the musician’s younger brother.

“Rest In Peace Ryan Breaux,” wrote DJ and producer Kai Asa Savon Wright, known professionally as Sango. Sango is known for his remixes of Ocean’s tracks, previously sharing renditions of ‘Nights’ and ‘Cayendo.’

Rapper MadeinTYO, whose real name is Malcolm Jamaal Davis, also paid his respects to Ocean’s late younger brother. “Ryan Breaux, you was a good kid & always showed me love,” Davis wrote on Twitter. “see you up top ! pray for frank family.”

Christopher and Ryan’s relationship

Frank Ocean, who was born Christopher Edwin Breaux, shared a close relationship with his brother. It’s widely believed that Ocean’s 2011 track, “Orion” pays homage to his younger brother, encouraging him to cherish life and not waste his youth. The lyrics include the following lines.

“I remember when you were born/Ohhh, how happy I was/cause If it didn’t go as I planned it/At least you’d double my chances. But promise big bro one thing, That you won’t go wasting time/ won’t go wasting time/ (no) that you won’t go wasting time/ Won’t go wasting time/Don’t go wasting it.”

Breaux also features on ‘Futura Free’, the final song from Ocean’s critically acclaimed 2016 album, ‘Blonde’. The nine-minute track ends with a conversation between Ocean and the then-11-year-old Breaux. Breaux didn’t know his voice would be on the track and when he found out, he tweeted, “MY INTERVIEW IS ON THE ALBUM OHMGMDJSHCJAJDHAHHSH I WAS LIKE 11 MY VOICE WAS SO HIGH.”

Ryan would’ve turned 19 on September 1, 2020.