One of the best drummers ever, a significant contributor to the soundtrack of my youth, dead at 67. He'd been battling brain cancer for the last three years...


Neil Peart, Rush Drummer Who Set a New Standard for Rock Virtuosity, Dead at 67


Peart was widely considered one of the best drummers in rock history, with a flamboyant yet utterly precise style. He joined singer-bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson in Rush in 1974, and his virtuosic playing and literate lyrics – which drew on Ayn Rand and science fiction, among other influences – helped make the trio one of the key bands of the classic-rock era. A rigorous autodidact and a gifted writer, he was also the author of numerous books. He was fiercely principled, and never stopped believing in the possibilities of rock and despising what he saw as over-commercialization of the music industry. “It’s about being your own hero,” he told Rolling Stone in 2015. “I set out to never betray the values that 16-year-old had, to never sell out, to never bow to the man. A compromise is what I can never accept.”

“Neil is the most air-drummed-to drummer of all time,” former Police drummer Stewart Copeland said in 2015...







Every year more and more of my youth dies...