Neil Peart, the longtime drummer for rock band Rush, has died. Widely considered to be one of the best and most technically proficient rock drummers of all time, the musician passed away on Tuesday morning in Santa Monica, California, from brain cancer, according to Rolling Stone. A representative for his family confirmed Peart had been struggling with the illness for the past three years. He was 67.
Born in Ontario, Canada, Neil Peart began drumming in earnest when his parents bought him a pair of drumsticks and got him lessons at the age of 13. After struggling to find steady work as a drummer in his teenage years following graduation from high school, Peart was invited to join Rush after the departure of the group’s original drummer, John Rutsey. Demonstrating a flair for language, Peart quickly became the group’s lyricist on top of his duties behind the drum kit, and Rush soon became as well known for their thoughtful, literary-infused lyrics as for the virtuosity of the band’s playing. He played with Rush from the group’s second album on through to its final releases, culminating with the R40 Live Tour in 2015, after which Peart announced his retirement from performing to focus on spending more time with his family.
After the first three Rush albums failed to make much of a mark commercially, the band’s label pressured them to change their sound to be more accessible. Instead, the bandmates decided that if they were going to be dropped, they wanted to go out on their own terms. The resulting album, 2112, was a smash hit in the United States, with the entire first side a sci-fi concept record dreamt up by Peart. As described in the Rush documentary Beyond The Lighted Stage, the band considered this to be the moment when it became liberated from the usual commercial pressures forced on major-label bands, and the trio was able to follow its own muse free from corporate meddling.
While all three members of Rush are acclaimed for their technical prowess, Peart’s playing has come to be known as the gold standard for technical virtuosity in the genre. Initially leaning into more traditional hard rock elements, Peart—along with guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist Geddy Lee—soon embraced more progressive rock structures, still the style with which Rush is most associated. However, they continually incorporated new and diverse influences, from reggae and new wave to jazz. Peart, in particular, began penning more introspective and humanistic lyrics, often dealing with heady emotional and philosophical themes. The band’s biggest hit, “Tom Sawyer,” featuring vocals interrogating the idea of rebellion and reconciling different parts of the self, from youth to adulthood.
Despite being at the height of his powers, in the 1990s Peart began a complete reeducation of his craft, studying with the drummer Freddie Gruber and learning a new swing-style method of playing that changed the sound and rhythm of his drumming. Peart has commented that he was initially disappointed when people said it still just sounded like him, before realizing, “Of course it does!” The first album to feature his new method was 1996's Test For Echo.
Peart endured enormous tragedy in 1997, following the conclusion of the tour supporting Test For Echo, when his 19-year-old daughter was killed in a car accident, and his wife of 23 years died of cancer within months of the accident. Rush went on hiatus, and Peart—initially thinking he was done with drumming for good—took an extended road trip, a lengthy motorcycle journey throughout North and Central America, which he later recounted in his memoir Ghost Rider: Travels On The Healing Road. By trip’s end, Peart had traveled almost 55,000 miles, and made a kind of peace with what had happened. As he described it in the book:
Without knowing it, I had identified a subtle but important part of the healing process. There would be no peace for me, no life for me, until I learned to forgive life for what it had done to me, forgive others for still being alive, and eventually, forgive myself for being alive.
Peart remarried in 2000 to the photographer Carrie Nuttall, and by 2001 he had rejoined his bandmates to begin making music again. The group released Vapor Trails in 2002, the first Rush album since 1975's Caress Of Steel to not feature any keyboards or synthesizer. Always a private person to begin with, Peart subsequently dropped out of nearly all press interviews or fan meet-and-greets, his already withholding manner made more so by the tragedies suffered. However, one of his rare group interview appearances came in 2008, when the group appeared on TV for the first time in almost 30 years—on Stephen Colbert’s The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Due to rights issues, the actual interview is unavailable, but here’s some delightful footage of Rush playing “Tom Sawyer” in the video game Rock Band.
Peart’s fascination with the written word continued throughout his life. The drummer authored seven non-fiction books, beginning with 1996's The Masked Rider: Cycling In West Africa, about his month-long bicycling tour through Cameroon, and concluding with 2016's Far And Wide: Bring That Horizon To Me!, about his travels in between stops on Rush’s R40 Live Tour. Peart also co-wrote two fiction books, collaborating with science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson to pen a novelization of the band’s 2012 concept album Clockwork Angels, as well as a sequel, Clockwork Lives, in 2015. He also released several side projects over the years, including a pair of tribute albums to Buddy Rich and several instructional drum videos.
In 2015, Neil Peart announced his retirement, with Rush R40 Live Tour being the last time he played with the band. “Like all athletes, there comes a time to… take yourself out of the game,” he stated, expressing the desire to stop before his performances lessened in quality, as well as evincing a wish to spend more time with his wife and daughter Olivia, who was born in 2009. It seems fitting to end our tribute to the musician with a video of one of his greatest drum solos, concluding the great Rush instrumental, “YYZ.”
167 Comments
Wow. This really hit me in the gut. Greatest rock drummer of all time.
2020 already sucks. 🙁
Keep looking ahead to 2112.
I never liked the band’s music, but you had to respect the hell out of their ability as musicians, and Peart especially. RIP.
People got hung up on some of their proggier stuff, but give this a watch. They could bring the straight-up rock and roll.
that video is so great — it really captures just how FUN their shows were. they were definitely serious, accomplished musicians, but they had a really playful side, too, and they always goofed around with each other onstage and with the audience.
Agreed. “My love life is like a Rush song: Complicated and wanky.”https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2014
Thanks for sharing your opinion of their music at this particular time.
Exactly how I feel, not a fan of Rush, but I can’t deny their status as legends.
Well, guess it’s time to crank 2112 on the commute home.
Even as a complete non-drummer, I read and watched and listened to Neil’s instructional media and masterclasses and always found something useful. One of the most influential and technically jaw-on-the-floor skilled drummers ever.
There was a great documentary about them a while back where a bunch of famous younger drummers it interviewed said exactly that – “Oh, so you think you’re good? Can you play La Villa Strangiato?” Learning Peart was a rite of passage.
Beyond the Lighted Stage. Great doc.
Wasn’t it Mike Portnoy who said it? Anyway, for anyone here who isn’t familiar:
Yeah, that was it – thanks. What’s hilarious about it is Geddy and Alex didn’t think Peart was cool enough to be in Rush. Geddy, the purveyor of all things cool.
Canadian cool is a different animal than other kinds of cool… a moose, specifically.
seconded. if you haven’t seen it, it’s a must-watch.
There’s a thread up above that talks about how hard “Tom Sawyer” is to play on drums. And while it’s certainly not easy, “Tom Sawyer” looks like your average AC/DC song in comparison to “La Villa Strangiato”…
Time Stand Still, dammit. 2020 is not looking much better than 2016…
Prince’s passing made me cry, and this one is coming damned close.
And I mean this in all sincerity.
I’d wager he would think it was funny.
But Canada gets Prince Harry and Megan Markoe? That’s a fair trade, right?
And yet for some mind boggling reason, Justin Bieber still lives. This is proof of a cruel world.
Damn, what a drummer he was. I remember reading a story that when the tech would change his drum skins, there would only be wear in one specific spot because Peart was just that technically accurate.
That doesn’t surprise me in the least. Some of the toms in his kit had heads no bigger than a bread plate.
Suddenly, you were gone
From all the lives you left your mark uponToday marks the end of an era. RIP, Mr. Peart.
Nobody tell Nick Andopolis. I suspect his life isn’t so hot to begin with.
BRILLIANTLY ON BEAT TILL THE END. SORRY TO SEE YOU SO SOON, MR. PEART.
What a tremendous loss… I’m just beside myself with this news.I’ve had the pleasure of seeing RUSH live twice and they did not disappoint and Peart’s drumming was as iconic live as it was on the albums. Geddy Lee’s voice and Alex Lifeson’s sweeping guitar playing, along with Peart on the drums made them one of the most unique and technically brilliant bands of all-time.Peart was so instrumental in the aesthetic and lyrics of the band, and it made RUSH’s catalogue dovetail with my high fantasy interests as a tween/teen 30+ years ago.Truly A Farewell to (a) King(s). R.I.P.
I saw ‘em on the Time Machine tour, the one where they played Moving Pictures in order, in its entirety. That record came out when I was 10, just as I was starting my wee little elementary school band drumming career. I loved KISS (as a ‘70s kid, I had no choice), but Rush was on a different planet musically—Peart especially, if you were trying to be a drummer. Moving Pictures & Permanent Waves changed my life.
Same here. First saw them live when I was 15. The Power Windows tour.
Is tom Hanks going to portray him in a movie?
Krieger, you know what you have to do now: Hologram Peart.
Phooey. Golly. Shucks.First drummer I listened to where I actually paid attention to what he was doing instead of the flashy lead guitarist or singer.For my money it doesn’t get much better in rock than his patterns and sound on Moving Pictures’ Tom Sawyer.
Tom Sawyer was the song every budding drummer tried to learn to play in order to prove his chops.
Anyone who has ever tried to play with roto toms can attest to how insanely accurate Peart was with his sticks.
That song sounds super easy when you hear it but it’s really not even close to being easy. He took the simplest rock song and twisted it into something far more complex
I think it only sounds easy if you don’t know anything about playing a drum kit.
One of the reasons they never stopped playing Tom Sawyer (unlike Closer to the Heart which they retired for a while) is that Neil always felt challenged playing the song. Even after 30+ years he still had to push himself.
Did he say something to the effect of “One of these days, I’m going to get that solo right”?
My favorite part is the fill he does right before Geddy shrieks “…but change is”. Always has been. Its darn near perfect.BTW, neil looks like Keith Moon in this video, lol.
I love “Tom Sawyer,” but……there’s this fill Peart does in the second chorus of “Time Stand Still,” where he’s already keeping a complex rhythm at about 120 beats per minute, and then he throws in a bridge flourish on top of it without a single hiccup or break in the song. Like absolute butter. It gives me chills every time I listen to it. In fact, I crank my volume at that specific spot and imagine the blur of his hands over the kit.I bet you the band doesn’t even think that song is in their top 20% of hits, but for me it’s transcendent.
Its too bad that HYF didn’t get the mix/production of MP. Always hated the drum sound on that album.
That album came out my freshman year of college, so it’s one of my favorites.
I actually love that song for what it’s worth but will have to listen to it again with my Philistine ears to catch that fill
For me, that song is “Lessons” off “2112″ Neil’s cymbal work on that track is sublime. There’s a quick little one off cymbal fill that I will always air drum to, even if it means endangering my life in a vehicle.
I think that’s the greatest testament to Peart as a craftsman – the fact that many of his most memorable riffs happen in places that would be pedestrian to any other drummer.God, I miss the guy already.
Ah. Hell.Time to fire up the stereo and pour up a whiskey.We’ll rock and roll all night in your name, you goddamn legend.
After my kids go to bed, I’m playing video games and listening to Moving Pictures all night long.
I’m devastated. Of course I didn’t know the man, but he was a giant in my personal mythos since I was a young lad. I will miss him terribly.
I was never a fan of Geddy Lee’s singing, but damn I always loved those drums. Is there a rock drummer alive who wasn’t inspired by him?
Not a single one.
He’s the one who drove home the importance to every crazy man rock drummer of being tight as hell. If you couldn’t emulate the fills on Tom Sawyer then you weren’t a real drummer.
Meg White
One of my favorite drunken conversation starters is to ask “Would RUSH have been more popular if, with nothing else changing (that is, Alex and Geddy still wrote all the music and Neil the lyrics), they had a more talented singer fronting the band.
Meg White, obviously.
As someone on YouTube put it last night, “he’s your favorite drummer’s favorite drummer”
This
I’m so heartbroken by this news… I… seriously can’t believe he’s gone. Lots of my idols have died over the years but this one… hurts.
Well this hella sucks. My first concert ever (and warm beers in the parking lot was Power Windows in 1984, first cassette I ever bought with my paper route money (Moving Pictures in 1981), the most air drumming in my basement with friends, the most bar arguments in my early 20’s (Peart vs. Bonzo) etc etc etc. Always been some Rush in my entire life. RIP to a legend.
I was fortunate enough to see Rush six times in concert. They were all great musicians, but Peart was one of the all time best. He will be missed, even if I can’t take all of his Randian lyrics seriously.
Only got to see them once back around 89 or 90. Still the best show I have ever seen live hands down.
Neal couldn’t even take his lyrics seriously.I remember reading and/or seeing an interview with him a few years back and he says he cringes at some of the lyrics he wrote. He said something like “I was a stupid kid.”
Exactly. Neil said he grew up and left Rand behind. We are all the better for it.
not even HE took is Randian lyrics seriously.
I don’t mind a little pretention when the music more than makes up for it. R.I.P Neil Peart.
Thankfully, he did later say that he grew up and left it mostly behind. And, as a counter, he had some really good environmental lines in his work.
Ah, fuck. Dude was a genius. RIP. COndolences to his family.
I’m usually not particularly affected by celebrity deaths, even those I’ve been a lifelong fan of, but this one is hitting me. Might be due to the overall sadness of his life; the people he lost in short, tragic succession.A total badass, and by most accounts an introverted but ultimately sweet-natured and decent human being. I hope heaven treats him better than Earth did.
Damn.RIP “The New Guy.”
I play 99.1PLR out of New Haven, CT at the parts counter at work and just wondered why three Rush songs came on in a row… the answer is absolutely gut wrenching…
I’ve had the privilige to see them play three times live and I feel very fortunate. I first got into Rush while I was in high school and their music deeply appealed to and reached me. Neil is an amazing writer, lyricist, and drummer, and after all he’d been through with family tragedy I give him so much credit for carrying on. May his soul rest in peace, and my heart goes out to his family and friends. I’m sure Geddy and Alex probably knew of Neil’s health, but losing a friend any way is a tragedy.
Thanks Neil, for putting so many of my feelings, thoughts, and beliefs into lyrics and writing, and getting me through my own tough times.
As a life long Rush fan, this is going to be crippling, and will take a while to process. But to tell a little story, I owe my dad’s life to Neil Peart. When my mom decided she was done with chemo and was ready to go, my father confided in me that he would likely kill himself when she was gone. Both of us are motorcyclists, so I gave him my copy of “Ghost Rider”. It gave him the tools and strength to carry on, and find a way in the world without the woman he had loved since he was 20. That was 5 1/2 years ago, and he just called me to talk about his group ride over the weekend. So thanks, Neil. You were a lot more than just a drummer, and you were a hell of a drummer. Now to take the bike out and blast some 2112 on the open road.
Ghost Rider, heartbreaking as it is, a damn good book,
Holy shit. Thanks for sharing that. Elsewhere here I posted that Permanent Waves & Moving Pictures changed my life, but nothing like this. Ghost Rider is indeed a great book, & should be assigned reading for anybody trying to cope with loss. I recorded one passage in particular, that I think Peart really nailed:
Some well-meaning people have tried to offer me what
they perceive to be a “comforting” thought of the “everything must happen for a
reason” kind, but I shut them up right away (as politely as I can). Somehow they don’t see that it’s absolutely
no consolation to look at it that way, and more, it brings up some terrible
questions in your head: “There’s some kind of reason? What? They deserved
to die? I deserved to lose them? The world didn’t need people like Jackie and Selena?”
What a great story. Thanks for the positive spin.
I hope it’s OK if I share this—I believe it’s something people should hear. But if you say don’t, I won’t–let me know.
Go for it. Glad to be a part of something. A little more to the story-a couple of weeks after I gave him my copy, I got a call from mom (who was pretty pragmatic about the whole dying thing, to be honest) “What the hell book did you give your father?” I explained the back story, and she told me that he had already read it 3 times, and started highlighting passages. He was also trying to hide it from her. And, he was finally talking to her honestly about what his life would be like after she was gone. When the band came through Austin on the R40 tour, I almost staked out the good roads to the venue to try to catch him on the ride in to thank him.
A drummer friend of mine on FB put it best-”man first, drummer second”. And considering his drum skills, that says a lot.
Is it dusty in here or is it just me? This made me have the chills. Thanks for sharing.
No worries, man. I’ve been cutting onions for three straight days.
What even most fans don’t know is he lost his teenage daughter in a car accident and his wife to cancer within 10 months of each other earlier in his life. And now he lost his battle to cancer.Rest easy, my friend.
Aw man. This one hurts; I didn’t even know he was sick.Peart and Copeland are the two drummers who come to mind who mix in incredible fills and side beats without ever forgetting the only job of the drummer is to keep the rhythm. Just brilliant.
All respect to Peart on this day, but you made my day mentioning Copeland. Highly underrated (next to other greats like John Bohnam and Keith Moon).
Moon was incredible to me because he was an absolute flailing dervish who somehow managed to keep great time. Bonham was just an animal, and actually kind of sloppy (compared to the others mentioned, anyway).
Bonham wasn’t sloppy, he was “tight, but loose.”
Hey, when you play God’s Own Drums you can do whatever the hell you want.
Bonham’s sloppiness was nothing next to Page’s (live at least). Jones always seemed to be the glue there to me. And how Moon hit the right skins as out of control as he seemed is a mystery to me.
Page is why I’m usually disappointed with live Zep performances. His concert work would get a cover band boo’d off stage.
Booed* is a word, you know.
Well, underrated by the public at large, anyway, but not drummers. Stewart Copeland & Neil Peart are the reason why I have a TAMA kit.
Watching film of either of those guys I’m constantly wondering to myself “Wait, where are his hands? How is he creating that sound??” Plus Copeland is so STILL when he plays. His upper body barely seems to move.
Rush and The Police were oddly congruent.
Copeland is so good. Did you see his threepart series for the BBC on drumming and drummers? Hes such an engaging and knowledgable presenter, and funny too. Hes just about to start a new series on the Beeb about musicians, yay.
I have not, but will seek it out after watching a couple Rush DVDs this weekend
Its interesting that you mention Copeland. Like everybody else, I busted out my Lighted Stage dvd last night. There is an interview clip from around the Subdivisions period, where they get asked what they are currently listening to. First thing out of Neil’s mouth is “The Police”.
I really wish I didn’t mourn in puns…but I can’t change who I am. Pun thread starts here.Neil Peart: the first to roll the bones.
This loss hits me closer to the heart.
Holy shit. This is a gut punch. Such a brilliant, innovative, influential musician. What a tragic loss.
I’ve had some celebrity deaths that made me sad. This is the first one that hurts. I started with Rush in the early 80s and they became and remain my band. Punch in the gut.
Neil Peart stands alone. Sad day.
Noooooo. My first concert was the Rush Signals tour in 1983 at the Forum in LA. As a 16 year old kid who had been playing drums for about 3 years at the time, that was a life changing experience. Honestly, I’m a little numb after hearing this news.My favorite story from him (and I’m paraphrasing) is that he actually said that he never had a perfect performance! Well if that’s imperfection, I’m not sure what that makes the rest of us.
Anyone reading this who hasn’t heard one before, go to your favorite video playing website and look for the drum solo from Exit Stage Left, A Show of Hands, Clockwork Angels, and the shows / recordings from here:
https://www.iheart.com/content/2017-09-12-5-of-neil-pearts-greatest-solos/
I never really listened to Rush but was always into rock/metal and appreciated real talent on these instruments. Can’t ask much more than to be as talented and legendary as this guy. Hopefully I can be half as good at something one day as he was on drums.
Fuck.
A remarkable man with an incredible passion for words and his drums. A fan since Moving Pictures. Concert goer since Presto. An amazing life from such a shy person. He never sought the limelight but it found him. Fare thee well good soul.
Neil Peart’s 10 best Rush songs ever from the CBC website.
https://www.cbc.ca/music/read/neil-peart-on-the-10-best-rush-songs-ever-1.5000896
Thanks for that. Interesting to learn that The Spirit of Radio was his top Rush song. Damn, I miss the old CFNY.
And now no one can play it. I don’t know if Neil would want us to commemorate him with cocaine and gunplay but Krieger would. Let’s get to it.
And now no one can play it.That simple statement hit me hard. Now, no one can play it. YYZ will forever stand as a testiment to his greatness.
Which has me wondering-if there is some manner of memorial concert, who the hell are they going to get to play the drum parts? Will it be a team? “Okay, you 3 guys are on cymbal crashes, you 4 are on toms, and we’ll try to fing some guys to play the kicks”
Danny Carey
Marco Minnemann.
This will always be my favorite:
God I loved that album cover as a kid. I did a grade school art project of a winter scene in acrylics—there’s a deer in there, some bare birches, some snow, & a deep blue sky, but most of it was me trying to paint this snowy owl. It turned out pretty good, actually–I wish I knew whatever happened to it. Might still turn up in my mom’s attic….
Dammit all, this one fucking hurts.Loved Neil. One of the greatest drummers ever, an lyricist unequaled….and so crazily low key, he could have been a gardener for all the pomp and circumstance he presented which was none.You know the mark of a true genius that was Neil? Two things strike me – one being due to drumming and another not.One was late in his career Neil realized he was having problems drumming….no not because of the cancer (well maybe) but overall it was wear and tear….because he never learned to drum properly to begin with. So this guy who people consider the preeminent genius to aspire too, sat down with others to figure out what he was doing wrong and get re-taught to properly drum. And succeeded!The other was a fascinating tidbit of Neil. He was a VORACIOUS reader. Literally every waking moment he was not doing Rush stuff, he was sitting off to the side somewhere reading with a stack of books next to him. And he read EVERYTHING…T. H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley, Truman Capote, Chinua Achebe, Alan Paton, Mariama Bâ, J. M. Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Saul Bellow, Kevin J Anderson, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Irving, Hemingway, hell even Jimmy Buffet…and thats just his regular fiction. The dude consumed literature, histories (natural and human), biographies and autobiographies, technical manuals, you name it, he probably read it. And when he traveled, he read. He toured the world both in band and without them, and devoured books in far off places. Geddy once said of Neil that he could only ‘recognize Neil from the top of his head than his face because it was always behind a book’.This was how he relaxed and enjoyed life. A true Renaissance man.He will be missed. But a man who lived in full.Do yourself a favor and enjoy the literature that Neil loved – and its a great list:
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/11/05/neil-peart-reading-list
This is well a well known show of his insane skill, but it’s worth posting-Everyone gets their turn to shine here, but it’s Neil that we’re all waiting for.
Sad news, the guy was phenomenal.
Seen Rush live six times. They’re my favorite band. I’m not okay right now.
Greatest drummer ever. R.I.P.
May he rest in peace.1 of the world’s most proficient drummers, a virtuoso.
With each passing year, the world sucks more.
For those that didn’t know. He went through hell and came back. What a loss.Family tragedy and recoveryOn Aug. 10, 1997, Peart’s first daughter and then only child, 19-year-old Selena Taylor, was killed in a single-car accident while driving to university in Toronto. Just months later, Peart’s common-law wife, Jackie, was diagnosed with terminal cancer and later died.Peart told his fellow Rush bandmates on the day of his daughter’s funeral they should “consider me retired.”He would later go on a 14-month motorcycle trip across North America, through Mexico to Belize and back, chronicling the journey in his book, Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road, before rejoining the band.
I didn’t even know he was sick. I just assumed they’d be around for a while longer – maybe get back together and do something for R50 in a few years.
Fuck man.
I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea and I’m not a fan of some of their later work (although a lot of it is really underrated) but they were my introduction to something more complex than Kiss and Black Sabbath and I’ve always appreciated them the band for their musicianship and their ability to find success on their own terms (not to mention their complete lack of pretension when it came to their own image – they took their music seriously but not themselves)
I think I’m going to spend the evening binge listening to 2112 through Signals.
I discovered Rush when I was in high school in the late ‘90s, courtesy of hearing Freewill on the radio and my dad’s classic rock collection. The sound was so different than anything else, and the lyrics were so much more thought-provoking than anything else I’d heard. I listened to more, and I was hooked. Honestly, I think Rush was a significant influence on me, then and even now. I consider myself privileged to have seen Rush live three times on three different tours. Neil Peart’s skills are and will remain legendary and amazing to watch, but I sincerely believe the real story of Neil Peart and Rush is his lyrics. Thanks for the memories, Neil.
Goddamn. Lots of musicians’ deaths have bummed me out, but few have hit as hard as this one. The only other such death that has brought actual tears for me was MCA.
If you were a drummer in the ‘60s, Ringo was your guy. ‘70s kids had
Bonzo & Peter Criss. In the ‘80s, even with all those synthesizers,
we still had Stewart Copeland & plenty of others playing real drums
instead of drum machines. But the guy—THE guy—who loomed the largest
was Neal Peart from Rush. Fans were bummed when he formally retired a
few years ago, but it was hard to say he hadn’t earned it. Still, we’d hoped the quintessential power trio would reunite. Fare thee
well, Professor. Thanks for everything.
Sad to hear of his passing.I saw Rush live probably a decade ago, and Neil had a drum kit that completely surrounded him. In front were the traditional acoustic drums, and behind him were the synthesized drums. I have no idea how he got into this rig.In any case, he had a long drum solo and in the middle of it the drum kit rotated around him as he transitioned from one kit to the other. He didn’t miss a beat, sounded absolutely perfect. The end of the solo had them transitioning into some of their 80s stuff that needed the synth drums. The man was a machine.RIP Neil.
The Rush documentary is a must watch. What a kind soul and a nice story.
He inspired thousands thousands of kids to play drums, many of them even went onto become successful High School music teachers….and rock musicians, of course.RIP, Mr Peart.
No. This cannot be reality. No.
Best rock drummer ever, if not the best drummer of all time. A sad day.
I became a Rush fan right around the time it was appropriate to do so. And as an aspiring drummer, it quite literally rocked me to the core. I would talk anybody’s ear off about Peart (mispronouncing it as “pert” for years), and even if I couldn’t play most of his iconic beats, I knew every note of them.I count myself lucky that I got to see Rush on their “Moving Pictures” redux tour, where they played the iconic record in its entirety. I never thought I’d get to see them perform “The Camera Eye,” but my wish was granted that night.I have a handful of friends whose devotion to Rush puts mine to shame. I am still an occasional listener, and Peart’s immortal beats never fail to bring out the air drummer in me. I had no idea that Neil was suffering from cancer, so this news took me by surprise and quite literally left me breathless. Tonight, I will hold a musical vigil in memory of one of the great artists of our era. May his greatness, and his lasting impact on modern music, never be forgotten.
Great update to the obit, Alex, and thanks for ending with YYZ. I mean holy shit.Not one of his greatest drum solos, one of THE greatest drum solos.
“collaborating with science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson”Always sad to hear of an artist getting taken in by a conman like that, especially depressing to learn when hearing of that artist’s passing.
I saw Rush in concert 3 times during their Grace Under Pressure tour. His 30-minute drum solo was the centerpiece of every show, and it was magnificent. I will never listen to them with a dry eye again.
I can’t play drums, but I can at least read like Neil: http://www.neilpeart.net/index.php?cID=193
RYYZPECT
RUSHPECT
RESPEARTCT
“Born in Ontario, Canada…”Can you fix this, Alex? Neil Peart was born in Hamilton, Ontario. Your phrasing here is akin to saying that Brian Wilson was born in California, United States…
Except that everybody in the world knows that California is a thing. As knowing things like San Francisco and Los Angeles are cities in it. Knowing that Ontario is a thing is already giving non-Canadians a lot of credit. Knowing a city in Ontario that isn’t Toronto is pretty much not a thing that anyone who hasn’t lived in Canada knows about (source: lived in Waterloo, Ontario for a few years and no non-Canadians realize that that’s a thing other than the city in Belgium where Napoleon lost).
That’s why Hamilton, Ontario, Canada would have been a good choice. It’s both precise and doesn’t sound stupid…
This fucking sucks
Rush wrote the soundtrack of my adolescent years. They somehow found that Venn Diagram intersection of “Geeky Sci-Fi Nerds” and “Wannabe Rock Stars”. And Neil Peart was undeniably the greatest rock drummer around. But it was his lyrics that grabbed me. From the trippy sci-fi narrative of “Red Barchetta” to the wistful nostalgia of “The Analog Kid”, there was always something relatable in his words.Whether he wrote about open seas and city lights, busy streets and dizzy heights…they moved me.Thank you and Rest in Peace, Mr. Peart.
Man, Analog Kid is my favorite by them. When they played it live I almost fell off my seat, lol. Wasn’t expected at all.
Same. I was lucky enough to have seen them twice and they busted it out both times.
Just watched the YYZ video and will say for all of their technical chops, that is some of the worst music I’ve ever fucking heard.Too bad Alex Lifeson’s tone didn’t die instead.
Some of the worst music you’ve ever heard? You don’t listen to much music. Can I offer you some Nickleback or something out of the mumble rap bin?
I agree that YYZ is a total wank fest, but they wear a lot of different hats…
You need to go fuck yourself right now. Find the biggest splintery dildo or rabid gerbil you can, and just jam it right up in there.
Rolling Stone magazine, is that you?
(Rush was hated by mainstream music media for most of their career)
seriously, what a comment to make on an obituary.
Hot take, so edgy.
The more I think about it, in terms of sheer influence on fellow musicians, I don’t even know who would surpass Peart. I would even say that there’s something specific about drumming where other kinds of instrumentalists *can’t* have the kind of titanic influence that Peart had.
I had I believe at least two chances to go see them during their last tour, and didn’t manage to get to either show, and felt pretty meh especially because I think one of them was within a few weeks of my birthday. When it was announced that Peart was retiring, I figured either A) that was that, or B) we’d get the usual musician retirement scenario and they’d be back on the road within so many years and I’d get my chance THAT time, for sure. Life can eat a bag of dicks!
“Within a few weeks of your birthday”? How long do you celebrate your birthday?
Exact same story over here. Kicking myself. Let’s share the bag of dicks together, in sadness and solidarity.
Wow what a huge loss. Rest in peace.
Whelp rest in peace drumming. Guess we don’t need you this decade.
https://www.tsn.ca/video/remembering-neil-peart%7E1865542If you’re a hockey fan, check out this treat
This started out as just a response to a post on the “Drums, Drummers
and Drumming” FB page, asking for reflections/reactions to Neil Peart’s
death (“Post up a memory of Neil or a short story about how he
influenced you!”). Since hearing about The Professor’s death, I’ve been
listening to Rush & thinking about it, & the prompt helped me
put my feelings into words. Maybe it’s a little over-the-top, but:
“Permanent Waves” came out the year I turned 10, “Moving Pictures” less
than a month before my 11th birthday. That one-two punch started my
Rush fandom, & there was nothing going on like them. I still
remember our 6th grade teacher telling us to bring our favorite music in
for a party at school—everybody else brought in the usual pop stuff; I
brought our 8-track of “Permanent Waves”, which it turned out nobody
else wanted to listen to. I can still hear where track one shifted to
track two during the bridge of “Freewill”.
At about the same time, I was starting with band, doing percussion,
& while Peter Criss was the first drummer that made me want to drum,
The Professor—I mean, what can you say? Is there a drummer alive that
doesn’t respect & admire Peart’s craft? He was THE guy, the genius
we all aspired to, knowing we’d never get there. And that’s not
even considering the WORDS. As a 10-11 year-old kid trying to keep up, I
learned SO many new words from Neil Peart, to say nothing of artful
composition & complicated ideas. Poetry! I feel like I’ve always
been a word guy (both my BA & my MA are in Latin, & I’ve been
teaching Latin for 26 years), but Rush was there so early in my life
that now it’s hard to say whether I was born a word guy or Neil Peart
*made* me one. Listening to “The Spirit of Radio” in the car this
morning, I found myself with tears rolling down my cheeks, because it
was really, truly hitting me how much of an impact Peart has had on me.
And the most amazing thing is that he gave me “a gift beyond price,
almost free”. Requiescas in pace, Magister.
as heart-breaking as this news is, it’s so good that he lived to see the band be vindicated by the mainstream press.
20 years ago, folks at the hall of fame gleefully stated that Rush would never be inducted. and not only were they inducted, the response they received at their induction was…well, unprecedented
hell, even Rolling Stone, who sneered at them for years, has been forced to post a bajillion articles about the band.cold comfort, but still.
I have distinct memories of being in England and flying on acid while listening to 2112 over and over again way back in about 1995. I had the TV on with the volume off while it played, and it seemed like all the people on it were speaking in drums. Good times.Rest in peace, Neil. A decent man, a genius drummer and a good Canadian.
Without knowing it, I had identified a subtle but important part of the healing process. There would be no peace for me, no life for me, until I learned to forgive life for what it had done to me, forgive others for still being alive, and eventually, forgive myself for being alive.Jesus, I need to memorize this.