Huron Zephyr

In his seeming shyness, Neil was not an anomaly in the music business. He got into the business not for fame or fortune the way some do, but to do what he wanted to do in life and be what he wanted to be - a drummer who always strove for excellence. In that respect, he succeeded beyond expectations. Neil probably wasn’t as reserved as people thought he was. I remember reading something somewhere that said at a certain point he refrained from meeting fans and the public to avoid having to field questions or discussions about his deceased first wife and daughter. So, to quote a line from Tom Sawyer, it was a case of “his reserve a quiet defence”.

I'm sure you have other favorite bands. Music has a way of wrapping itself around our heart and soul. It never fades or lessens, even with the passing of decades. The loss of a member of the band that had created the song is a sadness that stays with you. It's hard for me to listen to Rush now on account of Neil. I wasn't his fan, but he could play those drums. I mourn the loss of Ray Thomas, David Bowie, Tom Petty (his death affected me the worse), Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, and others. I can understand why you would find it hard to listen to Rush. Alex has supposedly stopped playing guitar, and while I can’t speak for him, I suspect that it’s because of Neil’s death and the end of the band. You can’t play for 40-plus years in a band that has been as wildly successful as Rush has, and not be deeply affected when the band ceases functioning and one of the band members has died.

It’s been months since Neil passed on. When I first heard about his death, I was truly shocked, and I generally don’t shock all that easily. I’m also not the kind of guy who mourns the death of celebrities. I think part of my shock came from not having had even an inkling that he had been gravely ill. I’ve never been to any Rush concerts, although I have numerous Rush albums and have been a fan since I was in my teen years. I’ve never met Neil in person, and obviously couldn’t have known him on a personal level. Yet I still feel a sense of loss; I think about Geddy and Alex too, and feel sorry for them. They’ve lost more than a band mate. They’ve lost a brother, even if he wasn’t biologically related. There’s just something so forlorn about their loss and their lack of a band mate, brother and friend, an empty, gaping hole. Indeed, the kind of brotherhood that existed within Rush is exceedingly rare. What they had, and the likes of all three members of the band, both collectively and individually, are things that will likely never be seen again. I’ve searched myself, trying to grasp and understand the source of my sense of loss. I think it comes from the fact that as a teenager, I found Neil’s lyrics so erudite, literate and meaningful and that they had made a large and lasting impression on me in a way that no lyrics ever had. I tended to look up to him, at an age when I was still impressionable and had few people in my life I could look up to. Another part of my sense of loss comes from the fact that Rush, as a going concern, has ceased to exist, and that one of the band’s members has passed on. Put another way, Neil’s death and the end of Rush represent the loss of an important part of my adolescence and life as a young adult. As I grew older and became a man, I began to more fully understand and appreciate him as an individual - his considerable intellect, and his skill as a drummer and a writer, and his stature as a sort of philosopher. In short, I came to see him as a man after my own heart, and felt I could relate, on a deep level, to his writings and his lyrics, even if I had never met him or personally known him. I also appreciated his dedication, work ethic and professionalism. He never succumbed to the bullshit and stupidity to which many in the business of rock and roll had succumbed. Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not putting the man up on a pedestal. He wasn’t perfect; not every lyric he wrote was good. He had definitely written a few clinkers in his time. But on balance, the contributions he made to the fields of music and entertainment, to his native Canada, and his legacy as a whole cannot be underestimated. Rest In Peace, Neil.