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Neil Peart Has Passed Away


southpaw2k5
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At 69 I am now reminded of the body's fraility, and how you can go at any moment. S--t!

I've been reminded of that one for some time now.

 

Any time - any moment - anyone - any age.

 

Life changes in an instant.

 

Enjoy what you have while you have it.

 

Take nothing and no one for granted.

 

Life passes quickly

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Neil's book Ghost Rider inspired me in many ways, not the least of which was to take up motorcycling in my 40s and ride across North America several times. And a love of BMW GS bikes. Neil occasionally dropped by the bike shop I frequented in Toronto, but never while I was there.

 

I did cross paths with him once, in Idaho as he was heading south by motorcycle after a show the night before in Calgary. We were just two bike guys both of us on GSs, heading in opposite directions, and he gave me an enthusiastic wave. No words exchanged.

 

He and Geddy IMHO were the ultimate rock rhythm section.

 

Condolences to family and friends,

 

Rod (Toronto)

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Hello Rush Family. Been so very long since I've been on here. Glad to be back!

Yesterday was tough, like for MANY of us Fans, Drummers, etc.

Grown Men.....do cry!

Neil touched us all in different ways. I've been a drummer since age 5. I first heard the Boys at age 10. I grew up like so many. Listening, Umpteen Tours, Posters, Studying Neil's Drumming, introducing family friends and co workers to Rush, naming children after bandmates, taking children to Rush Shows, and placing NLPEART on my license plates in 1995!!

Let's all stay in touch even more.

We are Family!!

Love you guys!!

Thanks for being here.

Thanks for EVERYTHING Neil!!

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At 69 I am now reminded of the body's fraility, and how you can go at any moment. S--t!

I've been reminded of that one for some time now.

 

Any time - any moment - anyone - any age.

 

Life changes in an instant.

 

Enjoy what you have while you have it.

 

Take nothing and no one for granted.

 

Life passes quickly

 

Amem to that

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This is probably the most devastated I've been over a celebrity dying since Michael Jackson....RIP Neil...I only hope that you're now reunited with your wife and daughter...

 

I swear all you ever did was slag him off

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This is probably the most devastated I've been over a celebrity dying since Michael Jackson....RIP Neil...I only hope that you're now reunited with your wife and daughter...

 

I swear all you ever did was slag him off

 

Even if he did, he's not "slagging" Neil now. Is this the time to call someone out for past posts? (IMO, no, it isn't.)

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So many thoughts are racing through my mind. He had a profound impact me and without being dramatic, he was instrumental in shaping my life.

 

When someone impacts you in such an enormous way, for selfish reasons, you want them to be part of your life for a very long time. I recall years ago posting in the forum that I worried about his motorcycling and I worried about his smoking. There's a part of me that wishes he had shared his thoughts on smoking (if it was determined whether or not it was a contributing factor in his disease). Having lost a parent who smoked to lung cancer, and having seen and heard her heartbreaking regret first-hand, I hope he didn't experience the same.

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At 69 I am now reminded of the body's fraility, and how you can go at any moment. S--t!

I've been reminded of that one for some time now.

 

Any time - any moment - anyone - any age.

 

Life changes in an instant.

 

Enjoy what you have while you have it.

 

Take nothing and no one for granted.

 

Life passes quickly

 

 

This is so true.

 

Wish I had more to add but my brain is still foggy from drinking nonstop since I read the news.

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I will find time this weekend to write about this. I think that sharing about this and reading everyone's posts is being very therapeutic to deal with this loss.

 

Totally. I haven’t been able to post anything because my brain has been racing since the news.

 

I’ll get my shit together and post something substantial eventually.

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Sorry it took something like this for some of us to come back to TRF. I had heard the rumors that Neil was ill. So I guess I’m not so shocked.....just very very sad. All the memories around the Rush concerts, the “Cons”, the preshow meetups, singing along with other fans, the friendships that have been made....all swimming around in my head and the tears flowing this morning. He will be missed.
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This is probably the most devastated I've been over a celebrity dying since Michael Jackson....RIP Neil...I only hope that you're now reunited with your wife and daughter...

 

I swear all you ever did was slag him off

 

Even if he did, he's not "slagging" Neil now. Is this the time to call someone out for past posts? (IMO, no, it isn't.)

 

Thank you, Jim. Not the time OR the forum section, really.

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They guy taught me to play drums. Gave me so much and I never met him. Three strangers, so much a part of my life. Its very odd really, but very real. Hard to know for me how much this is effecting me. I recently lost my mom unexpectedly and my emotions are still pretty raw. But this loss feels very personal. Another cloudy day.
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Yep...first post.

But, I was lurker here usually around the times of new releases, tour announcements or other big Rush news. This is the big one.

I now know what all those people felt like when John Lennon was shot or why my mom was crying after hearing about Elvis.

 

Neil was ‘my guy’.

I used Pro Mark sticks, Evans drum heads, painted my drum set red, bought a Zildjian 18” crash cymbal (medium-thin, of course!). I bought every album and saw every tour since Moving Pictures. I went beyond drums and drumming: everything from Samuel Taylor Coleridge poetry to Carrie Nuttall photography to trying to get interested in cross country skiing because Neil was into it.

 

At some point I guess I asked myself “why am I doing all this?” I’m never going to meet him, I’m never going to play as good as him, I’m never going to have dinner at that hunting lodge (me, Neil, Alex, Geddy—ya know, just the FOUR of us)... I’m never going to get any type of ‘atta boy’ or acknowledgment from my hero. But, I still secretly want it and hope to get it somehow.

 

And yet, here I am: writing to people I don’t know, seeking approval from those same people, trying to impress them with my deep introspective thinking, trying to “out fan” other fans, and again caught asking myself “why am I doing all this?”

I’m really not sure why. Why would a guy who guarded and valued his privacy continue to write publicly about his most personal, private issues? We all need an outlet, I guess. Because this is the only group of people who might understand.

 

 

Here’s my FAVORITE quote from Neil. If you’re like me (still trying to be like him), this is a great way to do that and still be yourself:

”I define my approach to each day I am given as, “What is the most excellent thing I can do today?”

That’s it.

 

Thanks for reading this.

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Hope he crafted a lengthy goodbye, otherwise there will be no closure(at least with me)

 

Closure for what? I don’t understand

 

Yeah, I don't get it either. Fan expectations from a dying man? Not cool.

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Hope he crafted a lengthy goodbye, otherwise there will be no closure(at least with me)

 

You might be setting yourself up for disappointment.

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