Neil Peart, 1952-2020

Sad. 
Even sadder that his family suffered through so much tragedy.

RIP

Damn. One of my greatest regrets will be not seeing him in concert.

I was fortunate to see them live 3 times. The highlight was always Pearts drum solo. What a loss for music.....

I've been passing this around to my friends since the news broke. 

Fucking sucks. All my music heroes are dying

Tremendous music talent. Geddy & Alex talked about Neil like the professor of their music.

 “I still vividly remember my first listen of 2112 when I was young. It was the first time I really listened to a drummer. And since that day, music has never been the same. His power, precision, and composition was incomparable. He was called ‘The Professor’ for a reason: We all learned from him.” - Dave Grohl

We are the priests of the temples of Syrinx
Our great computers fill the hallowed halls
We are the priests of the temples of Syrinx
All the gifts of life are held within our walls

My favorite part of the 2112 Overture

Rush...the soundtrack of my life. 

Pratt, you will be missed. 

I've got no problem admitting that I wept like a little girl for about thirty minutes when I saw the Rolling Stone post on Facebook. I've been a Rush fan since I was ten years old, and within a couple of years, I was an absolute fanatic. Moving Pictures grabbed me, and my lifelong love of Rush was truly born. Though I never met Neil Peart, I felt like a close friend died. His passing would have been an absolute gut punch even if I'd had time to prepare for that inevitable dark day. But we were all blindsided. Nobody outside of his family, Alex and Geddy knew. Neil was always a very private man, and he no doubt fought brain cancer with the same courage that he showed after losing his wife and his daughter. 

I had the good fortune of seeing them in concert three times (or was it four? after a while, and nearly 100 concerts, they all run together), all with Armored NO Saint, including their last tour. When they broke up, I just assumed that one day, they'd get back together again to do one abbreviated tour. That's what I told myself, anyway. "Even if they do only a few shows, it doesn't matter how far I have to fly. I'm going. If it's in Toronto, fuck it, I'm going. Maybe I'll take in a Blue Jays game after, and Geddy will be there." That's how I dealt with, or rather tricked myself into believing that Rush wasn't done. That's how I propped up that part of my heart where Rush has resided for as long as I can remember. Before I started really getting interested in girls, Rush was there. When I broke up with my first girlfriend, Celeste, in Texas in early 1990, Rush's music, and Neil's lyrics, in particular, helped me get through it. Rush's music was there for me through a lot of really tough times as a kid. Rush and Queen, both, and Neil's passing feels like when Freddie Mercury died. That was the day Freddie and Eric Carr of KISS both passed away. I didn't ever want to feel like that again. But I did when Bart Starr died. But at least with Bart, I'd prepared myself.

It's not a stretch to say that Rush's music is inextricably woven into my life. Without Rush, I'm a completely different person. 

After that first initial shock, I was numb all day and night. The guys in Rush are just different than anybody else. The way they've always embraced their fan base made them just that much more important to us all. Neil didn't usually do the meet and greets like Alex and Geddy-those two have always been the engaging guys of the band. Neil was just never really comfortable with the spotlight. In about forty-four years since he replaced John Rutsey, he really didn't like doing interviews, and the only time he every came out to take a bow with the band was at their last ever concert. In typical Neil fashion, he referred to the line the drummer existed behind as (if my memory serves me correctly) "the prime meridian". I need to watch the Time Stand Still documentary yet again. Now I have a very different reason. 

I'm babbling, sorry. I just feel completely out of sorts. It may sound cliched, but I feel like part of me is missing, and I'm all over the fucking place. I don't know if any other band has exuded pure joy the way that wonderful power trio did. And unfortunately, we'll never see their likes again.  

I was very fortunate to see Rush in Milwaukee and I wasn't a fan them until I saw the concert.  Rush was a huge part of my life musically since then.

Lambeausouth, we won't see the likes of them again.  The classic rock we grew up with is no longer being made and that is sad to me.

Hemispheres was 1st Rush album I bought but I spent many teenage hours cranking All The Worlds a Stage - live. Saw them live in Madison 1980. Long show!

My favorite discovery watching documentary of last Rush tour was that Neil traveled by motorcycle with a few crew members. Preferred that to sitting on a bus, in an airport, on a plane etc. Motorcycles made tour travel enjoyable for him.  

I guess it’s now just hitting me after 24 hours of knowing. Finally had the courage to put on some Rush (The Garden).  Tears are now flowing. 
 
The future disappears into memory 

With only a moment between

Forever dwells in that moment

Hope is what remains to be seen...

The spirit ever lingers