Neil Peart R.I.P.

[Adam Strange]

He died Tuesday. What a great and special man.

[ToddS]

This one really hits hard. RIP Neil.

[prog_powermetal99]

I agree with Todd, this is a tough one.......As a drummer myself, growing up, Neil was my idol..... Loved playing his songs in high school and early college on the drums with the band I was in at that time. He was, and always will be my favorite drummer of all time!!!

I'm sure Guy is taking this pretty hard as well, as he know he's as hardcore as it gets when it comes to being a Rush Fan...............

RIP Neil! You will be missed..................


Dusty

[Mardoch]

A real bummer. The only upside is he's not suffering to cancer anymore.

[prog_powermetal99]

A real bummer. The only upside is he's not suffering to cancer anymore.

That's very true! I think I may have some type of cancer myself, but I refuse to go to the doctor, because I'm getting so old and have too many symptoms, and usually once you have lots of symptoms, it's too late. I'd just rather let nature take it's course...........

But back to Neil, I didn't even realize he had brain cancer. I had heard something about him being sick a long time ago, but didn't look into it further.....such a legend the man was!

Dusty

[LarryD]

This is one of the saddest ever for me ........ Rush shaped my musical childhood, and Neil was a huge part of that. I knew he had troubles over the years, but I had no idea that he was battling cancer.......

R.I.P. Neil ...... you were the greatest drummer of all time to me .........

[Kez]

Having a very hard time grasping this. He was the greatest.

[Sir Exar Kun]

I'm a "late to the party" Rush fan, and always appreciated them more for what they influenced than what they actually accomplished on their own..... I do understand the love people have for this band, but I think I am more of an "observer" than a "participant", if you will.

But I will say this: Neil's drum solos are truly the ONLY drum solos I can sit back and absolutely ENJOY. If I never saw another drum solo again, I wouldn't lose any sleep..... EXCEPT for his.

RIP Neil. Cancer SUCKS. Hard to believe he's been battling this for over three years, and it never came out.

[Digital Man]

To say this hit me hard is a massive understatement. The public didn't know about this, so it took us all by surprise. I hadn't even considered how I would react to a Rush member's death, as I thought I had many years before that would be a possibility. They aren't the typical rock band where you expect them to die early from an overdose or something like that. I've always worried that we'd lose Neil to a motorcycle accident but was still very unprepared for this. I feel exactly like a close friend or family member died. I've never met Neil yet I feel so close to him through his lyrics, drumming and books. His lyrics and drumming have been the soundtrack to my life for 40 years. I like a lot of great bands, but none are even close to the way I feel about Rush. I'm most sad for him and his family. His only daughter was killed in a car accident, then his wife died of cancer. Many years later he re-married and had a young daughter, I believe she is around 10 now. He missed a lot of time with his first family since he was on the road with the band so much. He had finally retired from the band and wanted to spend his retirement time with his new family since he missed that the first time around. Maybe a year later he finds out he has an aggressive form of brain cancer. So now he will miss the time he planned to spend with his new family, watching his daughter grow up, etc. Unbelievably tragic. This hit me so much harder than when Rush called it quits in 2015. I was really OK with it; it was time. I believe Neil had also hoped to write more books in his retirement and I was very much looking forward to that. It was unfortunately a busy weekend so I really haven't had much time to grieve, but I feel like I need to do that just like I would for a close friend or family members.

[prog_powermetal99]

To say this hit me hard is a massive understatement. The public didn't know about this, so it took us all by surprise. I hadn't even considered how I would react to a Rush member's death, as I thought I had many years before that would be a possibility. They aren't the typical rock band where you expect them to die early from an overdose or something like that. I've always worried that we'd lose Neil to a motorcycle accident but was still very unprepared for this. I feel exactly like a close friend or family member died. I've never met Neil yet I feel so close to him through his lyrics, drumming and books. His lyrics and drumming have been the soundtrack to my life for 40 years. I like a lot of great bands, but none are even close to the way I feel about Rush. I'm most sad for him and his family. His only daughter was killed in a car accident, then his wife died of cancer. Many years later he re-married and had a young daughter, I believe she is around 10 now. He missed a lot of time with his first family since he was on the road with the band so much. He had finally retired from the band and wanted to spend his retirement time with his new family since he missed that the first time around. Maybe a year later he finds out he has an aggressive form of brain cancer. So now he will miss the time he planned to spend with his new family, watching his daughter grow up, etc. Unbelievably tragic. This hit me so much harder than when Rush called it quits in 2015. I was really OK with it; it was time. I believe Neil had also hoped to write more books in his retirement and I was very much looking forward to that. It was unfortunately a busy weekend so I really haven't had much time to grieve, but I feel like I need to do that just like I would for a close friend or family members.

I feel for ya Guy. Have you ever had a chance to read any of his books? I"m planning on maybe ordering them from Amazon....I've heard him talk about them on youtube interviews, and it sounds like they would be a good read....

[Digital Man]

I feel for ya Guy. Have you ever had a chance to read any of his books? I"m planning on maybe ordering them from Amazon....I've heard him talk about them on youtube interviews, and it sounds like they would be a good read....

Yes, I have all his books. I haven't finished the last one yet but all of them are outstanding. They are the main reason I felt like I knew him well. For someone who wasn't known for being comfortable interacting with the public, he really shares a lot. Being a fellow introvert, fellow cyclist, fellow book reader and fellow music fan I always felt we were kindred spirits. Just not on the musical and artistic talent side though.