Ask just about any rock drummer who their influences are and chances are
Rush's
Neil Peart will be high on the list. With his technically demanding, precise, and deeply complex rhythmic style, few rock drummers scaled the heights that
Peart did both on record and on-stage as part of the renowned Canadian prog rock trio
Rush. Unlike many of his peers,
Peart wrote a lot of his parts and solos, making him as much a musical architect as a drummer. In addition to being one of music's great drummers,
Peart was also
Rush's primary lyricist (and an author), whose topics included everything from demon and wizard imagery to political and social topics, the responsibilities of free individuals, culture, and philosophy. Though he never recorded a proper solo album, he did deliver several instructional drumming videos and contributed to the compilation
Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich.
Peart retired after
Rush's 40th Anniversary Tour in 2015, ending the band in effect. He passed away in 2020 after a long battle with brain cancer.
Born in Canada on September 12, 1952,
Peart began learning the drums at the age of 13 and by the late '60s/early '70s, he'd immersed himself in the challenging sounds of such rock drummers as
the Who's
Keith Moon,
ELP's
Carl Palmer,
Yes'
Bill Bruford, and legendary big-band drummer
Buddy Rich. After a brief stint living in England (where he discovered the writings of Ayn Rand),
Peart returned to Canada in the early '70s and found out that the up-and-coming band
Rush, who had just wrapped up touring behind their debut album, was looking for a new drummer.
Peart was granted a tryout and immediately asked to join, as the trio (which also included singer/bassist
Geddy Lee and guitarist
Alex Lifeson) sought to expand on their musical direction, which then consisted of extended blues jams in the manner of
Led Zeppelin and
Cream.
Peart's entrance into the band signaled that
Rush would focus on more challenging material, and the drummer also took over the reins as the group's lyricist. While it would take a few releases for
Rush's new musical direction to gel (1974's
Fly by Night and 1975's
Caress of Steel), the band hit paydirt with the 1976 concept album
2112. The record told the story of a young man's fight against a future world where rock music is outlawed, with
Peart applying Ayn Rand's writing style and philosophies to the plot's story line.
Rush's commercial success continued as the band scored more heavy metal-tinged prog rock classics like 1977's
A Farewell to Kings, 1978's
Hemispheres, 1980's
Permanent Waves, and
Rush's finest hour, 1981's
Moving Pictures. The group continued to rack up hit albums and sold-out arena tours (with all three members consistently winning magazine polls for being the best at their respective instrument), and
Peart's influence on rock drummers had become immense, as evidenced by the styles of
Dream Theater's
Mike Portnoy,
King's X's
Jerry Gaskill, and
Primus'
Tim "Herb" Alexander.
In addition to his
Rush duties,
Peart found time to become a writer himself, penning the books Radiance Over the Rockies and The Masked Rider, traveling the world and sight-seeing between tours (
Peart was an avid bicyclist), as well as organizing a
Buddy Rich tribute concert in the early '90s. The future of
Rush was thrust into doubt by the late '90s, however, when
Peart was dealt two devastating blows in his personal life: the tragic deaths of both his teenaged daughter and his wife a year apart from one another. But by the dawn of the 21st century, it appeared that
Peart was back on his feet. He'd remarried and rejoined his longtime
Rush mates in preparing their first new studio recording since 1996's
Test for Echo, 2002's
Vapor Trails.
Two more studio albums would appear -- 2007's Snakes & Arrows and 2012's
Clockwork Angels -- as well as a half-dozen live discs before
Alex Lifeson would announce in a January 2018 interview, "We have no plans to tour or record any more. We're basically done. After 41 years, we felt it was enough." If anyone doubted that
Rush were a thing of the past, they didn't any longer when it was announced on January 7, 2020, that
Neil Peart had died after spending three-and-a-half years struggling with brain cancer. ~ Greg Prato