From the archives: Rush drummer Neil Peart preferred experimentation over popularity
Neil Peart, the extraordinary drummer for Canadian power rock trio Rush, died Tuesday from complications of brain cancer, the band’s spokesman Elliot Mintz said in a statement. He was 67.
On Friday, the band released a statement: “It is with broken hearts and the deepest sadness that we must share the terrible news that on Tuesday our friend, soul brother and band mate of over 45 years, Neil, has lost his incredibly brave three and a half year battle with brain cancer.”
The group’s principal lyricist, Peart anchored Rush’s progressive rock sound on 19 studio albums that included touchstone works like “2112,” “Moving Pictures” and “Signals.”
Fans, and polls, rank Peart as one of rock’s greatest drummers. He was quick to acknowledge some of his influences, name-checking Stewart Copeland of The Police as one around the time of “Permanent Waves” in 1980 and “Grace Under Pressure” in 1984, Rolling Stone reported.
Copeland, in turn, acknowledged how technically proficient Peart was. “He’s the most air-drummed-to drummers of all time,” The Guardian reported.
Peart’s technical precision and probing lyrics had a profound affect on the group’s fans.
“So sad to hear about the passing of Neal Peart, the drummer and lyricist for Rush. They’ve been my favorite band since I was 12. Peart was practically a patron saint for geeks like me. Through their music they said, ‘It’s OK to be different. It’s OK to be smart,’ said Paul Hodges of Coral Springs in a Facebook post.
“Brokenhearted Rush fan here. My cousin put ‘2112’ on the turntable and my mind was blown,” said Miami native Coley Howell of Pennsylvania on Facebook. “Rush has been my favorite band ever since.”
In 1994, Peart spoke to the Miami Herald to promote his band’s concert at the now long gone Miami Arena. The following article was published in the Herald on Feb. 25, 1994.
After 20 years of rock, Canada’s Rush still rolls
Say the name Rush these days and a lot of people will think of a roly-poly radio talk show host with a Mount Rushmore-sized mouth.
The other Rush is far less controversial: the Canadian power trio, whose self-titled debut album hit the racks 20 years ago, and which is still playing its trademark brand of classic rock.
Some critics have called it bombastic, even pretentious, but fans continue to lap it up. The current “Counterparts” CD entered Billboard’s album chart at No. 2 in October — the best showing to date for a Rush record — and the coinciding tour brings the band to the Miami Arena Sunday night.
Drummer-lyricist Neil Peart attributes Rush’s longevity to a concerted effort he and bandmates Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have made to work together for the common good and to loyal fans who respect the band’s integrity.
“Our work by definition is uneven,” Peart said in a phone conversation from Sacramento, Calif., where Rush was on tour. “There is probably no way we can make a record that is really good all the way through because we’re experimenting all the time. Some experiments by definition are bound to fail. So there’s a certain element of forgiveness.”
Must be. Every Rush release since its fourth album, 1976’s “2112,” has gone gold or platinum. Like many of its predecessors, though, “Counterparts” headed south after selling a quick half- million.
“Our level of success and popularity is exactly what it should be,” Peart says. “It’s naturally limited by our own insistence on doing what we want to do the way we want to do it.”
You have to give Rush at least that much credit. Back in July 1974, when “Rush” was released, disco began making noise with two of that genre’s first No. 1 singles: “Rock the Boat” and “Rock Your Baby.”
At the same time, Rush latched onto the progressive side of rock and rocked the boat with a vengeance. Early releases were on the heavy metal side, with crunching guitars and lofty sci-fi themes.
By 1981’s “Moving Pictures,” Rush had shed some of its over-the-top instrumental solos and complex time signatures and evolved into its current incarnation — polished album-oriented- rock purveyors who on occasion can craft a gem like the touching new song “Nobody’s Hero.” The tune deals with AIDS and loss but is ostensibly about finding heroism in the average person.
Though current tastes favor Seattle-bred grunge rock, Peart, 41, sees no reason to tamper with Rush’s formula. Besides, he senses the rock world is healthy again, he says.
“In the late ‘80s, nobody cared about playing well or making music that was honest and real. It was all formulaic. Light metal was the genre of choice and it was all a total record company-manufactured thing,” he said. “Fortunately the ‘90s came along, and as always happens whenever the bull ---- gets too deep, bands come storming out of garages and basements and kick it all away.”
Peart can sympathize with younger competitors like Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder who battle the music business’ star-making machinery.
“These people did not get into this business to be famous, they got into it to make music,” Peart says. “It’s funny to see the circle coming around again wherein these people who got into it for all the right reasons are suddenly being criticized because they don’t want to play movie star.
“We’ve never been that big, we’ve never been a megaband, so we never had to deal with that paparazzi around all the time,” Peart said. “If we did I would go berserk.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 9:23 AM.
