Neil Peart Has Passed Away

[Cygnus 2112]

I've been trying to think about what to say since I first heard the news three hours ago, and I've got nothing. They've been a part of my life for since I was 15, so half my life. I feel like a piece of me has died.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

TRF is quoted a few times here:

 

https://www.alternat...led-neil-peart/

That website is nothing but clickbait. Ignore it and don't click on links, it's run by parasites that feed on the love people have for these musicians...

 

The article itself is worth a look. Just don't click their links, that's all.

[PolarizeMe]

I’m in a super market trying to hold back tears. I can’t think straight at the moment. WTF!

Damn man, me too.

I think most of us are really...

[Principled Man]

Sad. Apart from his musical accomplishments, he was and remains a travel inspiration to me.

 

He's a major life inspiration. He stood up to his loss and suffering and he beat them.

 

When life knocks you down, you get back up and get back at it. You fight, you WIN!

 

 

:ebert: :ebert: :ebert:

[Blue Barchetta]

Just checking in. Stunned like everyone else. May be the saddest I've been at the death of a non-relative. Some others have posted some eloquent statements. I've got nothing.

[Wandering Hermit]

Even when I occasionally log into this site (and back when I logged in very frequently on Counterparts) it was generally to discuss other matters in the other forums/fora; religion, other bands, science, etc. Rarely would I visit the explicitly Rush-related pages anymore.

 

This morning while I was doing my daily habit of sitting and writing down whatever pops into my mind, I wrote:

 

"...once in the winter I went there instead of school and stood on the hill where there was some snow and water was iced into a very shallow pond and I threw rocks at it and I could hear Geddy sing about Brooding in the tower, watching oer the land..."

 

Then today around 2pm after I showered I put on my Moving Pictures tee shirt.

 

And then around 4PM I get a text from an ex-coworker with a few words that made my chest feel hollow and my head feel light.

 

Rush was introduced to me when I was 15, in 1982, by a school-mate named John Dar, who carted around a boom box and a 2112 tape. The first time he played it for me changed everything.

 

No rock lyricist was or is his equal. No lyricist wrote in such as way that I felt that he was writing to me and for me. I still feel that way. I was always half happy, half sad when I realized that there were other people out there that reacted as strongly to Neil's lyrics as I did. I though, "Hey, a kindred spirit!" But I also thought "Hey, this is my music, this is between him and me."

 

Yesterday I was reading Dirge Without Music by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Here it is:

 

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.

So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:

Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned

With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

 

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.

Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.

A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,

A formula, a phrase remains,—but the best is lost.

 

The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,—

They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled

Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.

More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.

 

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave

Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;

Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.

I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

[Mara]

He was so looking forward to retirement and never touring again. Unfair he only got a year or so before cancer stole the rest. I’m sure he had the best treatment available, but still. Three years is a long time for glioblastoma....

[pjbear05]

Stunned, just stunned. RIP, Neil.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

TRF is quoted a few times here:

 

https://www.alternat...led-neil-peart/

That website is nothing but clickbait. Ignore it and don't click on links, it's run by parasites that feed on the love people have for these musicians...

 

The article itself is worth a look. Just don't click their links, that's all.

 

Certainly not something I expected to see.

[Wandering Hermit]

This Moving Pictures tee shirt is not coming off for a while, I'll tell you that.

[Ron2112]

Seeing news that Neil entered hospice care in mid-Nov. so those close to the family knew this was coming for a while. So sad.

[Show Don't Tell]

My second favourite drummer behind NEP is Mike Portnoy, and he said a few words.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Neil Peart will always be a mentor and a hero to me and his influence on me as a drummer for the past 40 years is absolutely impossible to measure"

 

"But beyond that, over the past 15 years or so, he’s become a friend…always such a gentleman and a gracious host. Always inviting me to come to soundcheck and spend some time before the show whenever Rush was passing through."

 

"I have so many memories through the years, but probably the most special was the last time I saw him. I took my son Max to see Rush on their farewell tour as I wanted him to see the band before they retired...Neil ever the incredible gracious host invited us to soundcheck, let Max play his drums, gave him a pair of sticks and an autographed snare drum head and opened up his dressing room to us for the evening. The point is, if you were his guest you were family.

 

I could go on and on and on but I need to process this.

 

Sadly, I’ve known about Neil’s declining health for a few years now and always feared this news...but I am still shaken to the core in shock."

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[RushFanForever]

...aaaaaaaaaaaand it's the same tumor that took out Gord Downie.

 

Irony so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

 

It's a shame that both Neil Peart and Gord Downie passed on from the same brain cancer 'glioblastoma'.

 

Posted on Oct 19, 2017 by CBC News.

 

Glioblastoma, brain tumour that took Gord Downie's life, tough to treat, doctors say

Edited January 11, 2020 by RushFanForever

[grep]

Neilpeart.net is now just a black page with a huge photo of him.

[custom55]

I'm sad. Still progressing this news.

[Wandering Hermit]

When I'm ready to listen to any Rush again, and I am not anywhere near that point, it will be Vapor Trails front to back, the most moving and meaningful effort the man ever completed, which is saying a LOT.

[Blue J]

I know I already posted a couple of brief things in this thread but I just feel compelled to again, reading what the rest of you have to share as well...I’m just sitting here and the tears are welling up...fulfilling, warm, loving tears, but also just a shattering sadness.

 

 

 

Peace and healing to his family and other loved ones...principally his bandmates.

[Daylin]

Someone just asked me if I heard the bad news. I said 'no'...I never would have guessed this is what the news was. I'm so sad and like others here just feel shock.

 

RIP Neil Peart

 

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

Seeing news that Neil entered hospice care in mid-Nov. so those close to the family knew this was coming for a while. So sad.

 

Rick Beato is in the music business and has a pretty big following on YouTube. I don't know where he and his friend got their info, but apparently Neil died on Tuesday.

 

[TheAccountant]

My 92 year old dad, who is not a Rush (or any sort of rock music fan - its classical, opera & jazz for him) just told me. He knows I am a big Rush fan.

 

I am just stunned. Words fail me. Others here have spoken for me.

 

Dang, I feel so bad for his family, Alex & Geddy.

 

Just horrible. Terrible.

[feliciasnh]

When I'm ready to listen to any Rush again, and I am not anywhere near that point,

 

I'm glad it isn't just me who feels that way. I couldn't bear to listen to their music right now. Even hearing it in my head brings new waves of tears.

[edhunter]

So how many people are getting comments on their Facebook pages by people saying that you were the 1st person they thought of when they heard this news? I am at about 10

[BenjaminW]

Neil Peart was the biggest influence on me as a drummer, and I can't believe that he's left this world. I knew that this day would come some day, but I never realized that it would be today. This one's gonna hurt. Rest in Peace Neil Peart.

[Phantom]

I know that no one will believe me, but a few nights ago, I had a nightmare that Neil had passed. I woke up incredibly upset.. but then incredibly relieved that it was only a dream.. or so I thought. I feel sick to my stomach.. and honestly.. I'm totally freaked out. I'm so upset.

[Weakly Criminal]

I'm honestly crying.

 

Thanks for that. I was feeling like an emotional basket case. The GOAT is gone.

: (