It’s being reported today that drumming legend Neil Peart passed away this Tuesday after battling brain cancer for the last three years.
It’s difficult to put into words what Neil meant to me.
As a young child, I was cradled in my mother’s arms and she would pat me to the rhythm of whatever music was playing, introducing me to what the beat of songs felt like. Years later, as this was the 70’s and my parents liked rock of many stripes, it was only natural that they’d introduce me to Rush, and it changed my world. My mother would listen to Rush songs with me and she’d point out how often in each one Neil would change up his patterns, weaving percussive tapestries unlike anything I’d ever heard. Unlike anything anyone had.
In my youth, my parents finally gave into the indication of my beating on everything with drum sticks and got me a full-on (if kid-sized) drum set, followed by a full-sized set–a chrome Pearl kit–years later. I was in a couple of basement bands with various combinations of friends through grade and high school, largely just hacking around making fun songs and using my father’s (or let’s call it “the communal basement music room”) four-track recording machine. But the constant that whole time was me wanting to play drums early, often, and always.
And through it all, Neil Peart shone to me as the pinnacle of what a drummer could be and could do. That was only underscored when I discovered much later that he not only did the unparalleled–almost superhuman–drumming for so many awe-inspiring songs, but that he also wrote the music and lyrics for much of them.
How any one person could be that creative, that broadly talented, will always be amazing to me. Just being able to drum like that puts him in extremely rare company. Top drummers to this day still compare chops based on whether or not they can nail La Villa Strangiato, and that was just one of the unbelievably complex songs Neil would play over hours of a concert, flawlessly. But then also writing the (literally) epic lyrics to so many songs? Being able to come up with that music? And have it all work together? That’s just mind-blowing.
I saw Rush play a couple of times in big venues over the years, but while the overall experiences were fantastic–Alex and Geddy are excellent in their own rights, and of course the songs are the songs (and there’s nothing like seeing your favourite songs played live)–easily the best part of those occasions was seeing Neil play.
To think of the source of a lifetime of inspiration for me, of all that talent, being suddenly gone, genuinely hurts.
Rest in peace, Neil.