Neil Peart Has Passed Away

[Lorraine]

Checking in to say thanks for all the music and all the memories. Rush's music has shaped part of who I am with the type of music I listen to, and listening to and playing music is a big part of who I am. This news blindsided me real hard at work this afternoon.

Great to see you. How are you doing?

[Entre_Perpetuo]

Earl. I don’t know earl, never met earl. But for some reason when I (finally) digested the news about Neil I wondered how Earl was taking it all in.

 

Earl what say you?

 

You'll know when Earl has something to say about this. ;)

 

Oh Earl. I don't even know what to expect. I think we all wish we could give that man a hug tonight.

[librarian]

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:

 

 

 

 

This is what :rush: was all about for me, well said! :cheers:

I just toasted with champagne

[HemiBeers]

Don't have the time now to read through 18 pages.

My husband went to bed early, so I was able to come back. This afternoon - I don't know what made me even switch users - he was on the phone with his daughter and I just got the idea to see what was going on - I was floored. Thought it was a really bad joke at first - still telling myself "It can't be" - but it is.

 

Did Geddy and Alex know?

Others in the industry that had any contact with Neil probably knew. I'm really surprised that it was kept under wraps given the world today.

[Wandering Hermit]

"If it is nothingness that awaits us, let us make an injustice of it; let us fight against destiny, even though without hope of victory."

 

-Miguel de Unamuno

 

I always loved this quote and I think NEP would too.

[crimsonfrippy]

I have not been in the forum in quite some time. In shock still and just feel so sad for Carrie and Olivia. His parents and siblings too. Just a very sad day.

[HemiBeers]

Earl. I don’t know earl, never met earl. But for some reason when I (finally) digested the news about Neil I wondered how Earl was taking it all in.

 

Earl what say you?

 

You'll know when Earl has something to say about this. ;)

 

Oh Earl. I don't even know what to expect. I think we all wish we could give that man a hug tonight.

I hope someone, somewhere has taken away Earl's car keys for his own safety.

[Lorraine]

There's only one way I ever want to remember him.

 

[Wandering Hermit]

I once took the trouble to buy and send a book to Neil, it was by Martin Gardner, the longtime Scientific American columnist, called The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener. Great book, it is where I learned about Miguel de Unamuno, quoted above. (I also once wrote a letter to Martin Gardner, and he wrote back to me. He passed away a few years ago)

[HemiBeers]

must have been really difficult for Geddy and Al to give the typical unemotional reaction to 'hey, any chance of Rush getting back together?', when they knew the real reason made that impossible.

[Blue J]

I have not been in the forum in quite some time. In shock still and just feel so sad for Carrie and Olivia. His parents and siblings too. Just a very sad day.

 

So nice to see you around, frippy...just under very sad circumstances. :(

[tks95747]

The irony is Neil would be VERY uncomfortable with our grief HAHAHAAA. Good ol Neil.

 

I can’t help imagining the following scenario:

 

Scene: Heaven, The Afterlife, Elysian Fields, Valhalla

 

Jesus: Oh My ME!!! Look over there, look who just walked in through the gates, it’s NEIL FREAKING PEART!!!

Buddha (fanning self): I can’t believe it!

Zeus: Think he’ll sign an autograph?

Odin: For us, sure! Of course! Of all his fans, no one can say we aren’t the biggest!

 

(Group of deities heads in Neil’s direction. Neil spies them and cringes).

 

Neil, muttering as he tries to evade the Fangods: Oh cripes, not THIS shit again! Where’s the Praetorian Guard? Oh f**k, that’s right, they’re not dead yet. Bastards.

Jesus et al: Neil, Neil, you’re the greatest drummer ever!

Neil: Go away

Allah: Come on, please sign my book!

Neil: No. Leave me alone. I’m not famous anymore. Now go away!

Buddha: Play Tom Sawyer!!

 

Apologies if this offends. I need a little gallows humor to cope.

I am compelled to tell you that when my daughter called me to tell me of this tragedy, my heart sunk like a stone and I was in a nasty funk all afternoon. After I got home from work, she talked me into going out to get some sushi... I cried on the way there.... When we sat down at our table, I pulled up TRF on my phone and started reading from the most recent post going backwards. Someone was looking out for me because within just a few minutes, I got to your post. I read it in quiet fascination and when I read the words: "Buddha: Play Tom Sawyer!!" ......I laughed out loud so hard that everyone in the restaurant turned to look at me... It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I shared your post with my daughter and we laughed and laughed. I honestly felt soooo much better after reading through and laughing at your post. Thank you for making a very painful experience just a little more palatable...

[Lorraine]

Don't have the time now to read through 18 pages.

My husband went to bed early, so I was able to come back. This afternoon - I don't know what made me even switch users - he was on the phone with his daughter and I just got the idea to see what was going on - I was floored. Thought it was a really bad joke at first - still telling myself "It can't be" - but it is.

 

Did Geddy and Alex know?

Others in the industry that had any contact with Neil probably knew. I'm really surprised that it was kept under wraps given the world today.

 

Me too, and the loyalty of both Geddy and Alex - when asked about Neil or a reunion - their faces never betrayed what they knew. Amazing.

 

I feel for them. How empty Geddy especially must feel since he is the more sensitive of the two.

No Rush anymore.

And now no Neil either.

[Lorraine]

must have been really difficult for Geddy and Al to give the typical unemotional reaction to 'hey, any chance of Rush getting back together?', when they knew the real reason made that impossible.

I just posted the same thing almost.

[fraroc]

must have been really difficult for Geddy and Al to give the typical unemotional reaction to 'hey, any chance of Rush getting back together?', when they knew the real reason made that impossible.

 

 

I can bet that there were many times Ged broke down in tears in hotel rooms on his book signing tour :(

[Blue J]

Don't have the time now to read through 18 pages.

My husband went to bed early, so I was able to come back. This afternoon - I don't know what made me even switch users - he was on the phone with his daughter and I just got the idea to see what was going on - I was floored. Thought it was a really bad joke at first - still telling myself "It can't be" - but it is.

 

Did Geddy and Alex know?

Others in the industry that had any contact with Neil probably knew. I'm really surprised that it was kept under wraps given the world today.

 

Me too, and the loyalty of both Geddy and Alex - when asked about Neil or a reunion - their faces never betrayed what they knew. Amazing.

 

Exactly.

[Wandering Hermit]

I really, really, really freaking HATE this

[Wil1972]

Haven't been here in awhile. Came back to join my Rush family tonight as we mourn. My wife -- also a fan -- and I are deeply gutted. Love to all. RIP Neil Edited January 11, 2020 by Wil1972

[HemiBeers]

Don't have the time now to read through 18 pages.

My husband went to bed early, so I was able to come back. This afternoon - I don't know what made me even switch users - he was on the phone with his daughter and I just got the idea to see what was going on - I was floored. Thought it was a really bad joke at first - still telling myself "It can't be" - but it is.

 

Did Geddy and Alex know?

Others in the industry that had any contact with Neil probably knew. I'm really surprised that it was kept under wraps given the world today.

 

Me too, and the loyalty of both Geddy and Alex - when asked about Neil or a reunion - their faces never betrayed what they knew. Amazing.

 

I feel for them. How empty Geddy especially must feel since he is the more sensitive of the two.

No Rush anymore.

And now no Neil either.

There's no easy way to handle this. But the fact that friends, family, etc. knew this was coming perhaps helped in the grieving. At least that was how I felt when my mother passed after severely going down hill; it was still very sad, but not really a surprise.

 

As I said, I'm glad he had some time. It would suck to die in the back of a tour bus.

[HemiBeers]

must have been really difficult for Geddy and Al to give the typical unemotional reaction to 'hey, any chance of Rush getting back together?', when they knew the real reason made that impossible.

 

 

I can bet that there were many times Ged broke down in tears in hotel rooms on his book signing tour :(

perhaps, but Canadians by nature are pretty stoic.

[blackhawkrush]

Leonardo da Vinci died at 67. Enough said. R.I.P.

[Lorraine]

Last time I saw the forum this packed was during the R40 periscope threads.

[sb2112]

I've been working my way through all these posts. It helps knowing that among this group, everyone understands and gets why it hits so hard.

 

I've still been a shock about it several hours later. No celebrity death has hit me this hard, because no band ever mattered more to me. Like everyone here, Rush was always so meaningful, so no death could be like this one. Rush is music that continues to speak to you as you grow older. They spoke to me as a teenager, and as I've gotten older different songs have taken on newer and deeper meaning. Neil's lyrics about loss particularly have had an impact on me in recent years. When music hits you this hard throughout life, something like this hurts.

 

And it hurts more because of all that Neil went through. The pain he went through in life is unimaginable, to lose so much. And yet he did "get back on" and was able to build a new life and have another child. To not be able to enjoy that retirement and time with his kid breaks my heart. It reminds me a lot of my own dad, who had a long cancer fight almost immediately after retiring. It's just not right, and he deserved better. I hope his family and friends will be able to navigate this well. Long cancer fights are so brutal for everyone involved.

 

The Garden is a fitting end to their career. Neil said the measure of a life is a measure of love and respect. And by that metric, he's beyond measure.

[RushX1]

Peart must’ve written something about his ordeal.

 

I was thinking the same. His website neailpeart.net, which has been taken offline, is still available via Internet Archive (last snapshot July 2019). It appears that all the updates and his last blog post on the site ceased around May 2016 which lines up with the quote, "The cause was brain cancer, which Peart had been quietly battling for three-and-a-half years." My guess, and of course it's purely a guess, is that once he was diagnosed sometime around May 2016, he quietly abandoned whatever he deemed as trivial pursuits. I imagine the blog would be one of those, but writing as a whole? Who knows. I would love to hear that he wrote some type of epilogue to his career and/or thoughts.

 

The content of his last couple essays made me wonder about something like this (what took him.)

 

I feel like the real epilogue is "Clockwork Angels." If you look at that album from a science-minded view, it's about seizing life to live it in the moment and getting as much as you can out of it.

 

I do hope Carrie will share someday about anything else Neil wanted to share with the world. (I have seen what the end looks like with long term cancer. The family and friends might have been very secretive because it is such an awful time and a hard battle. In time she may share. I'm going to keep his family in my thoughts.)

 

I'm definitely going to be spending some time with Clockwork Angels in the near future. I haven't given it the proper attention.

[HemiBeers]

Leonardo da Vinci died at 67. Enough said. R.I.P.

What band did he play in?

 

Sorry can't turn off stupid sense of humor.