Rolling Stone – by Brian Hiatt
Neil Peart, the virtuoso drummer and lyricist for Rush, died Tuesday, January 7th, in Santa Monica, California, at age 67, according to Elliot Mintz, a family spokesperson. The cause was brain cancer, which Peart had been quietly battling for three-and-a-half years. A representative for the band confirmed the news to Rolling Stone.
Peart was one of rock’s greatest drummers, with a flamboyant yet precise style that paid homage to his hero, the Who’s Keith Moon, while expanding the technical and imaginative possibilities of his instrument. He joined singer-bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson in Rush in 1974, and his musicianship and literate, philosophical lyrics – which initially drew on Ayn Rand and science fiction, and later became more personal and emotive – helped make the trio one of the classic-rock era’s essential bands. His drum fills on songs like “Tom Sawyer” were pop hooks in their own right, each one an indelible mini-composition; his lengthy drum solos, carefully constructed and packed with drama, were highlights of every Rush concert.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, Lee and Lifeson called Peart their “friend, soul brother and bandmate over 45 years,” and said he had been “incredibly brave” in his battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. “We ask that friends, fans, and media alike understandably respect the family’s need for privacy and peace at this extremely painful and difficult time,” Lee and Lifeson wrote. “Those wishing to express their condolences can choose a cancer research group or charity of their choice and make a donation in Neil Peart’s name. Rest in peace, brother.”
A rigorous autodidact, Peart was also the author of numerous books, beginning with 1996’s The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa, which chronicled a 1988 bicycle tour in Cameroon – in that memoir, he recalled an impromptu hand-drum performance that drew an entire village to watch.
Peart never stopped believing in the possibilities of rock (“a gift beyond price,” he called it in Rush’s 1980 track “The Spirit of Radio”) and despised what he saw as over-commercialization of the music industry and dumbed-down artists he saw as “panderers.” “It’s about being your own hero,” he told Rolling Stone in 2015. “I set out to never betray the values that 16-year-old had, to never sell out, to never bow to the man. A compromise is what I can never accept.”
Peart was a drummer’s drummer, beloved by his peers; he won prizes in Modern Drummer’s annual readers’ poll 38 times, and was a formative influence on countless young players. “His power, precision, and composition was incomparable,” Dave Grohl said in a statement released Friday. “He was called ‘The Professor’ for a reason: We all learned from him.”
“Neil is the most air-drummed-to drummer of all time,” former Police drummer Stewart Copeland told Rolling Stone in 2015. “Neil pushes that band, which has a lot of musicality, a lot of ideas crammed into every eight bars — but he keeps the throb, which is the important thing. And he can do that while doing all kinds of cool shit.”
Rush finished their final tour in August of 2015, after releasing their last album, Clockwork Angels, in 2012. Peart was done with the road. He questioned whether he could stay physically capable of playing his demanding parts, and was eager to spend more time with his wife, Carrie Nuttal, and daughter Olivia.
On August 10th, 1997, Peart’s 19-year-old daughter, Selena, died in a single-car accident on the long drive to her university in Toronto. Five months later, Selena’s mother – Peart’s common-law wife of 23 years, Jackie Taylor – was diagnosed with terminal cancer, quickly succumbing. Shattered, Peart told his bandmates to consider him retired, and embarked on a solitary motorcycle trip across the United States. He remarried in 2000, and found his way back to Rush by 2001.
Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, a middle-class Canadian suburb 70 miles from Toronto, where he took his first drum lessons at age 13. As a teen, he permed his hair, took to wearing a cape and purple boots on the city bus, and scrawled “God is dead” on his bedroom wall. At one point, he got in trouble for pounding out beats on his desk during class. His teacher’s idea of punishment was to insist that he bang on his desk nonstop for an hour’s worth of detention, time he happily spent re-creating Keith Moon’s parts from Tommy.
Peart joined Rush just after the recording of their first album, replacing original drummer John Rutsey. His breakthrough with the band came with 1976’s 2112 – the first side of the album was a rock opera set in that far-future year, combining Peart’s sci-fi vision and Rand-ian ideology (which he later disavowed, calling himself a “bleeding-heart libertarian”) with explosive prog theatrics. A later milestone came with the 1982 “Subdivisions,” an autobiographical tale of suburban misery (“the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth.”).
“A lot of the early fantasy stuff was just for fun,” Peart told Rolling Stone. “Because I didn’t believe yet that I could put something real into a song. ‘Subdivisions’ happened to be an anthem for a lot of people who grew up under those circumstances, and from then on, I realized what I most wanted to put in a song was human experience.”
Around then, Rush’s music become more concise, without losing its complexity. “When punk and New Wave came,” Peart told Rolling Stone. “we were young enough to gently incorporate it into our music, rather than getting reactionary about it — like other musicians who I heard saying, ‘What are we supposed to do now, forget how to play?’ We were fans enough to go, ‘Oh, we want that too.’ And by [1981’s] Moving Pictures, we nailed it, learning how to be seamlessly complex and to compact a large arrangement into a concise statement.”
Always suspicious of showbiz, Peart spent much of his downtime on the road in Rush’s early days buried in a stack of books. In the final years, he avoided the usual touring routine by traveling from gig to gig via motorcycle, taking off shortly after each show’s conclusion.
In the Nineties, he produced two tribute albums to jazz legend Buddy Rich, and at a moment when many of his fans already considered him the world’s best rock drummer, Peart began taking lessons with Freddie Gruber, a jazz player and noted drum instructor. Peart credited Gruber (and another teacher, Peter Erskine) with helping him recreate his technique and sense of time from scratch, leading him to a more fluid approach and a deeper groove. “What is a master but a master student?” Peart told Rolling Stone in 2012. “There’s a responsibility on you to keep getting better.”
Poster Comment:
By far, The greatest rock drummer in history.
RIP Neal - you will be missed and the lyrics you wrote have had influence on millions.
#1: Bill D Berger To: All (#0)
I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining car
A brilliant red Barchetta
From a better vanished time
I fire up the willing engine
Responding with a roar
Tires spitting gravel
I commit my weekly crime
Bill D Berger posted on 2020-01-10 22:18:56 Reply Private Reply
#2: Liberator To: Bill D Berger (#0)
But because I find Rush's music overrated and nothing special, I feel bad about not being affected over this.
BTO remains Canada's greatest band :-)
Liberator posted on 2020-01-11 11:33:47 Reply Private Reply
#3: BTP Holdings To: Liberator (#2)
I worked concert security in the 80s and 90s for extra money. I was good at it and never let anyone kick my butt over $35 a night. It just was not enough to let someone do it to me.
I worked a lot of great shows and even some sporting events.
One time at Soldier Field in Chicago, we were working The Grateful Dead. Me and another guy were behind the stage where no one was sitting. Some guy came out of the tunnel and ran up and sat in front of the score board.
We waved him down, "C'mon down here!"
We said, "What are you doing here? Do you have a ticket?" He tried to run so we grabbed him. Then he tried to fight us and we said, "If you fight us you will be going to jail. How did you get in here?"
He told us he rode his bike in. He fell in with the roadies and rode in with them. We said, "OK. So where is your bike now?" He said , "Chained up to the rail downstairs."
I said, "Give me the key and I will bring it out to you."
I tried selling it on the way out but there were no takers. I told him, "You're lucky to get this back." ROTFLMAO!
BTP Holdings posted on 2020-01-11 11:48:55 Reply Private Reply
#4: Dead Culture Watch To: Liberator (#2)
Loved that band, but Rush quite a bit more. So many great songs.
Dead Culture Watch posted on 2020-01-12 05:41:11 Reply Private Reply
#5: Liberator To: BTP Holdings, Bill D Berger (#3)
At the time you know it's a special experience to work entertainment venues, concerts or sporting events in some intimate capacity. In some ways does it seem like yesterday? Or a thousand years ago?
At college I happened to work as "Concert Staff" for a couple of semesters. Two of the bands were ELO and Jeff Beck. I recall the crowd control aspects for many "Garth & Wayne" types, the food spreads for the bands, and limos pulling up to the back door with multiple GFs. Kinda Spinal Tap-ish stuff.
It's not until many years later in retrospect that our memory makes all kinds of past events seem a bit surreal. It's as if it were someone else. (I guess it was, given our age back then.)
Liberator posted on 2020-01-12 11:10:30 Reply Private Reply
#6: Liberator To: Dead Culture Watch (#4)
Nice...
Another thing about getting older is reflecting on stuff like hanging out at/with your grandmother and the kinds of warm memories a kid *should* have.
Ever see Randy in the hood or at local stores? Does he still have a house in Blaine? Did Gramma's house stay in the family?
Bachman's story from The Guess Who (walked away at the height of success) to making it with BTO is pretty amazing. Bachman-Turner Overdrive had one desperate chance to get signed by a record company before he got a "real job"...and the rest is history.
There's a pretty good documentary available on BTO from '75 on YT.
Liberator posted on 2020-01-12 11:20:24 Reply Private Reply
#7: Liberator To: Dead Culture Watch (#4)
You're obviously not alone. Rush was popular. So you're taking Rush OVER BTO??
Man...I still don't get it...(I just tried listening to 'Tom Sawyer'); I'm more into hooks or riffs, phrasing...more traditional vocals. JMO.)
BTO...both Randy Bachman AND Fred Turner were great at all of the above. Especially at hooks. From '73-'75 they absolutely kicked azz.
AND... whose primal, Viking growls and screams are better than Fred Turner?? Heh...
Here in 2010 he still had the pipes:
Liberator posted on 2020-01-12 11:31:18 Reply Private Reply
#8: Dead Culture Watch To: Liberator (#7)
As far as Rush goes, I have lots of Canadian relatives, and they turned me onto Rush as soon as their first album came out. I bought it, and of course REALLY liked the song Working Man, guitar work was damn good with great energy, and, because I was spell bound/drawn to the blues from as young as I can remember, I liked that song, but it was also this one on that album which cemented my fandom.
youtu.be/EXSCm_4ND3g Obviously, I have zero idea how to imbed here. Why I spend less time here and so much more time at easier to use sites. Another fun fact of my life? Graham Nash was also once a neighbor of mine, bought a pool table from him. He lives in Princeville, on Kauai.
Dead Culture Watch posted on 2020-01-12 14:25:49 Reply Private Reply
#9: BTP Holdings To: Liberator (#7)
We worked the Beach Boys in Chicago back in the 80s. There were these babes running around wearing bikinis. I asked one of them, "Are you really from California?" She said, "Yes."
Then I saw the Beach Boys on the AXS channel. But there were no beach babes running around. Those young girls do not want to hang out with those old guys. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2020-01-12 14:54:40 Reply Private Reply
#10: Dead Culture Watch To: BTP Holdings (#9)
Dead Culture Watch posted on 2020-01-12 14:58:32 Reply Private Reply
#11: BTP Holdings To: Liberator (#5)
I really am very lucky to recall anything from the old days since I was sick with bacterial meningitis and in a nursing home 2 years to recover. It wiped out a lot of my memory. Bits and pieces of the past are coming back, albeit slowly. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2020-01-12 15:00:48 Reply Private Reply
#12: BTP Holdings To: Dead Culture Watch (#10)
Wow! So they could even get the good stuff out there in the islands?
One time they were searching girls purses at the front door of the Vic Theater in Chicago. One girl opened her purse and a vial popped up. One of the guys on the crew grabbed it. The cop walked over and said, "Let's have it." He unscrewed the cap and poured it out on the sidewalk. He told the girl, "Don't cry. You are not going to jail tonight."
I saw him when I was on washroom break. I told him, "I heard about what happened at the front door. Next time, think of the crew." He was laughing since he knew we were all party animals. ROTFLOL
BTP Holdings posted on 2020-01-12 15:06:56 Reply Private Reply
#13: Dead Culture Watch To: BTP Holdings (#12)
I try not to be the guy who has a story for everything, so I tend to not share much anymore. But, since I’m getting old, it’s nice to remember my past and sort of marvel at how I lived through much of it.
Being 58 was never part of my plan.
Dead Culture Watch posted on 2020-01-12 15:55:24 Reply Private Reply
#14: BTP Holdings To: Dead Culture Watch (#13)
I am now 65 and have serious health issues I am still dealing with. I never thought I would get this far either.
Plus remembering those old stories is a lucky thing because the meningitis wiped out so much memory. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2020-01-12 16:26:20 Reply Private Reply
#15: Dead Culture Watch To: BTP Holdings (#14)
Dead Culture Watch posted on 2020-01-12 17:58:35 Reply Private Reply
#16: Liberator To: Dead Culture Watch (#8)
AND, remember -- this spectacular live performance of 'Let It Ride' by Bachman and Turner was done in 2010, in their late 60s!
('Blue Collar' -- from their first album, right?)
As far as Rush goes, I have lots of Canadian relatives, and they turned me onto Rush as soon as their first album came out. I bought it, and of course REALLY liked the song Working Man, guitar work was damn good with great energy, and, because I was spell bound/drawn to the blues from as young as I can remember, I liked that song, but it was also this one on that album which cemented my fandom.
If Working Man resonates with you, it just does. Yeah -- no doubt that Rush and their drummer brought excellent energy to the table as well as a Blues flavor. (If I were in a Blues mood, I'd go with Clapton or Zep.)
That was part of the beauty of that era in music -- we actually had many choices in style & mood to choose from. These day we associate great memories with particular bands.
Obviously, I have zero idea how to imbed here. Why I spend less time here and so much more time at easier to use sites.
It was no Prob, bro. Your link still worked.
I listened, got a minute into the tune and was able to pinpoint why Rush's sound never did anything for me: Geddy's voice and vocals were the problem. (hey, you tried ;-)
Another fun fact of my life? Graham Nash was also once a neighbor of mine, bought a pool table from him. He lives in Princeville, on Kauai.
That's WILD. You found yourself conspicuous at the right place at the right time (was your work related to the music industry?)
Liberator posted on 2020-01-14 11:36:34 Reply Private Reply
#17: Liberator To: BTP Holdings (#9)
Man, are they. Fred Turner looks 80 yo. (But sounded like he was 30.)
Did you happen to check out that vid upthread? Unlike most past bands or musicians, they STILL had it at that age.
We worked the Beach Boys in Chicago back in the 80s. There were these babes running around wearing bikinis. I asked one of them, "Are you really from California?" She said, "Yes."
Sweet. (that line get you anywhere? :-)
Then I saw the Beach Boys on the AXS channel. But there were no beach babes running around. Those young girls do not want to hang out with those old guys. ;)
UNLESS you're Steven Tyler (now looking like an old Lesbo), or the rest of the olde, wealthy Rockers.)
Liberator posted on 2020-01-14 11:41:25 Reply Private Reply
#18: Liberator To: Dead Culture Watch, BTP Holdings (#10)
Man...
Either you have quite the drone and camera....OR, you've got enough stories to write a book.
Liberator posted on 2020-01-14 11:43:00 Reply Private Reply
#19: Liberator To: BTP Holdings, Dead Culture Watch (#14)
But...it seems like your best memories might have been saved (and maybe the worst ones erased ;-)
And after all...You're still here. Do your best now to preserve body & soul.
The mid-50s seems to present all kinds of challenges.
Liberator posted on 2020-01-14 11:46:57 Reply Private Reply
#20: Liberator To: Dead Culture Watch (#15)
Is that a general suggestion by a "Life Coach" OR "just one small step for mankind"?
8-P
Liberator posted on 2020-01-14 11:49:19 Reply Private Reply
#21: NeoconsNailed To: Dead Culture Watch, (#4)
NeoconsNailed posted on 2020-01-14 12:59:26 Reply Private Reply
#22: BTP Holdings To: Liberator (#19)
Yes it does. But I am now in mid 60s. Been thru some real hell with my health and am still going thru it. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2020-01-14 18:16:00 Reply Private Reply
#23: Dead Culture Watch To: Liberator (#16)
I thankfully have been sober (again) for a few years, had 15 at one point in my life, and thought I was cured. Almost cost me my marriage, five years of drinking like I used to will do that. Since this is a music thread, at least until it was jacked, will sum up how life is for me today with one of my favorite songs from one of my favs: (Stevie Ray)
http://hooktube.com/watch?v=3- http://">http://hooktube.com/watch?v=3- 51Nle_2MM
And ya! Love Clapton and Zep, another fun fact? Eric Clapton and Richard Starkey would sometimes take a questionably sober Ozzie to the West LA Alano club for AA meetings. (That’s how Ringo would introduce himself),. It was not unusual for Ozzy to ask for a birthday cake and have it given to him while he was drunk. Ah, good times. Both sober and drunk/using, life’s been crazy. It’s funny how I went from who I was to a raging Bircher who would choose this name, have grown much more libertarian since 2000. But getting there from a dirty hippy was only a matter of getting sober, lol. As an old using friend of mine use to say, “there’s nothing worse than a reformed anything.” This post is a structural and grammatical mess, but fuck it.
Dead Culture Watch posted on 2020-01-14 19:54:07 Reply Private Reply
#24: NeoconsNailed To: Dead Culture Watch (#23)
NeoconsNailed posted on 2020-01-14 20:38:54 Reply Private Reply
#25: Liberator To: BTP Holdings (#22)
Sorry to hear that...
I think many of us are taking a beating here and there. (Nobody told us about that wall at age 50, did they? :-/
Could be a blessing in disguise though; Makes us consider or reconsider our relationship and purpose with Our Maker.
Liberator posted on 2020-01-15 10:08:28 Reply Private Reply
#26: Liberator To: Dead Culture Watch (#23)
Hilarious. YOU were a late blooming dirty hippie freak? heh...
Hawaii back when I was there, had what was second best pot available in the country at the time, best was from British Columbia, but it also had a pesky customs to deal with, although back then, compared to now, the crossing was a joke largely. Thai stick was no longer available and hadn’t been for a few years.
Gotcha.
Followed the "entrepreneurial" market on the West Coast....and wound up in Hawaii. Wild.
I thankfully have been sober (again) for a few years, had 15 at one point in my life, and thought I was cured. Almost cost me my marriage, five years of drinking like I used to will do that. Since this is a music thread, at least until it was jacked, will sum up how life is for me today with one of my favorite songs from one of my favs: (Stevie Ray)
If your friends were convenient "co-pilots," back then it was easy to spiral and get caught up in a vortex. Some people for some reason are more susceptible (like you.) The good news is that you've persevered. at least twice.
Bro, it's not how you start, it's how you FINISH.
Yeah...Stevie Ray played some mean blues (link no workie)
It’s funny how I went from who I was to a raging Bircher who would choose this name, have grown much more libertarian since 2000. But getting there from a dirty hippy was only a matter of getting sober, lol. As an old using friend of mine use to say, “there’s nothing worse than a reformed anything.”
It's ok to be a Bircher-Libertarian hybrid ;-)
"Reformed" (fill-in-the-blank) are usually a bit...passionate. Not a bad thing either.
Good stuff on your hobnobbing circles with Ringo and Clapton (who also liked to have their occasional nip) So I guess, yes, you *could* write a book.
Liberator posted on 2020-01-15 10:20:19 Reply Private Reply