“Rush’s Neil Peart is no more…of brain cancer, he was 67”. I wake up with this message on WhatsApp yesterday from my friend Shaji Samuel in the U.S. My day of mourning begins. The next thing I am doing even before I start for the day is checking for “News” of his passing away online. Why wasn’t there any news of his illness? Reminded me of Freddy Mercury‘s passing away in 1991. I had just joined my first job then and I didn’t want to go to work that day. The Band’s official announcement of Neil’s passing away is on their website at www.rush.com.
You say you listen to rock music. You say you don’t know Neil Peart of Rush. I am sorry, “You don’t know rock music”. In fact you haven’t listened to rock at all.
You are learning to play drums. You say you don’t know Neil. You don’t know how much of a better drummer you will be only if you knew him. Neil inspired millions to take up drumming. Mike Portnoy the legendary drummer from Dream Theatre was such a big fan, he would actually go for Rush’s concerts to watch Neil (there is a YouTube video of Mike attending one such concert).
First time I hear about Rush is at school (VanaVani, IIT M), way back in the early 80’s when my classmate K. Shivakumar used to brag that Rush was the greatest band in the whole world. His brother was in the U.S and he had music sent to him from there. The name Rush was stuck in my head though. While at college (MCC but always hung out with my friends at IIT, M) I listen to songs “Fly by night“, “Cinderella Man” and “Bastille Day“. I am not very impressed and then in 1986 I listen to a complete album, “Permanent Waves“. The mark that was left in my mind by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and that one hell of a drummer Neil Peart, was of course, “Permanent for ever”. Thanks to “Bond” Sridhar (the wealthy dude on the BSA Bond bike from Alakananda Hostel pursuing his B.Tech Mechanical) who could procure us any album under the planet. I, Shaji Samuel and T.P (T. Parthasarathy) the other dudes from IIT M would spend hours of our precious time listening to Rush though TP would eventually move on to more heavier music later on. By the time we got to “Moving Pictures” Rush’s mark on our minds were indelible. Though “2112” ranks as the fav first album of many a Rush fan (actually it’s the official Rush initiation album) for me it was “Permanent Waves“. Other classics just followed “A farewell to Kings“, “Hemispheres“, “Caress of Steel“. These are of the more Prog Rock kind. Even “Signals” retained their former sound but succeeding albums didn’t do the magic for me like these did though flashes of brilliance always came shining through. Though Alex and Geddy’s contributions on these albums were brilliant it was Neil that outshined with his impeccable drumming. Show me one Rush fan who will say “No” to this. Though I did love and admire several other drummers (Steward Copeland in particular for his style), Neil was undoubtedly a “Drum-God”. Still recall Alex Lifeson mentioning in The Rush Rockumentary how Neil beat the crap out of that drums when they checking him for auditions after their first drummer John Rutsey was being replaced. John Rutsey himself is also no more having succumbed to diabetes and other health issues in 2008.
I recall another incident. While in the U.S. many years ago a colleague would mention how in one of the 2112 concerts he had been to, Neil’s drums were connected to lights, one drum to a light. Each light would light up only when he struck that drum. At the height of his solo it was unbelievable to watch the number of lights that would go “on”. Wish someone had made a video of the same.
Neil’s life was not without personal loss and tragedy having lost a teenage daughter in a car accident and his former wife 10 months later after his daughter’s accident, to cancer. It was almost the end of Rush when these incidents happened and Neil went on a hiatus. But he bounced back.
Even the drums he played will miss him because there is no drummer who can play them like the way Neil Did.
Rest in peace, Neil. You will be missed.
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