Frank Ocean’s brother Ryan Breaux passes away at 18
Ryan Breaux in July 2020 (Instagram: @rryanbreaux).
Frank Ocean’s brother, Ryan Breaux (born Ryan Moore), has passed away alongside his friend, Ezekial “Zeek” Bishop, after a car accident in Thousand Oaks, California. Ryan was 18 years old.
Ocean featured his brother in his 2016 Blonde track “Futura Free,” which included excerpts of a 2012 interview conducted by their friend Mikey Alfred. During their Q&A, Mikey asked an 11-year-old Ryan how he would spend his last day on Earth; Ryan’s answer exhibited his affection for his family:
[I would] spend a lot of time with my family and tell them I’m going away.
Ryan Breaux reacted to Blonde on Twitter, expressing a mix of excitement & embarrassment about being featured in “Futura Free” (Twitter: @rryanbreaux, 2016-08-20).
In the same interview—transcribed in Ocean’s 2016 magazine, Boys Don’t Cry—Ryan was asked who he would choose to switch bodies with for 24 hours:
Probably my brother, just to see how much work he has in one day, just to be in the life of him.
Ocean also expressed love for his sibling and mother in his unreleased 2011 track “Orion (Oh, Ryan),” in which he offers advice to his baby brother. Their mom, Katonya Breaux, later described Ryan as “brave, beautiful, kind, loving, and genuine” in an Instagram post for his 18th birthday in September 2019.
Ryan’s legacy—carried first and foremost by his family, friends, and those who knew him personally—also lives on through Ocean’s art as a light that will shine for generations to come. His answer to Mikey’s final question posed in “Futura Free” reflects that sentiment:
Mikey: How far is a light-year?
Ryan: Forever.
Ryan Breaux’s Q&A with Mikey Alfred in Frank Ocean’s Boys Don’t Cry magazine; excerpts of the interview appear in “Futura Free” on Blonde (“Hopes and Dreams,” Boys Don’t Cry, pp. 56–57, 2016-08-20).
Related Articles:
