Remembering Neil Peart

Published: Jan. 13, 2020, 10 a.m.

b'Over the decades, drummers haven\\u2019t received a lot of respect\\u2026all the jokes\\u2026the running gag in \\u201cSpinal Tap\\u201d\\u2026the issues so many groups seem to have finding the right drummer\\u2026\\n\\nBut there are also those who stand out and are not only admired but worshipped\\u2026and not just by music fans, not just by other drummers, not by just other musicians, but by everyone has a chance to hear them play\\u2026they\\u2019re that good, that special\\u2026\\n\\nI\\u2019ve been a drummer since I was in high school\\u2026I later played in bands and worked as a drum teacher to get my way through university\\u2026and I still play today\\u2026and you know why?...Neil Peart of Rush\\u2026\\n\\nMy first exposure to him was a stereo salesman who was demonstrating a pair of speakers by playing \\u201cBy-Tor and the Snow Dog\\u201d from Rush\\u2019s \\u201cFly By Night\\u201d album\\u2026I was immediately sucked into it by Neil\\u2019s playing\\u2026and when the song gets to those three drum breaks, I was hooked for life\\u2026\\n\\nLater, someone played the \\u201cOverture\\u201d from \\u201c2112\\u201d for\\u2026and that\\u2019s when I decided I needed to learn how to play the drums\\u2026same thing for millions of other kids\\u2026\\n\\nFor someone who played so hard and so loud, Neil was the quiet one, the introvert, the reluctant drumming institution\\u2026interviews with Neil were rare\\u2026meet\\u2019n\\u2019greets with fans were always handled by Alex and Geddy\\u2026it was just understood that Neil didn\\u2019t do these things\\u2026\\n\\nI\\u2019ve probably seen rush in concert more than any other artist\\u2026I\\u2019ve traveled to different countries to see them\\u2026I\\u2019ve worked on Rush projects for their record label and their management company\\u2026I know all the people behind scenes\\u2026I\\u2019ve hung out with Alex and worked with Geddy\\u2026but I never got a chance to meet Neil\\u2026\\n\\nI, like so many others, have unending respect for his abilities as a drummer, a lyricist, and a writer\\u2026he was a thinker, articulate, and extremely well-read\\u2026he also had a wicked sense of humour\\u2026\\n\\nStay with me as we remember Neil Peart\\u2026\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'