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Let's not assume Neil's illness was the cause for retirement


zappafrank
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I keep seeing some people post things about "people were mad at him for retiring and the whole time it was because he was dying!"

 

We don't know that there is a connection between his decision to retire and any presentation of being sick. The official Rush statement said Neil had been dealing with the cancer for 3 and a half years. Assuming that timeline, it would place diagnosis or noticeable onset ONE YEAR or so (mid 2016) after the final Rush concert in August 2015. I've seen a few people pick up on this, but the trend seems to be that cancer = retirement (in concert of course with his desire to spend time with his family).

 

I don't know the specifics of the type of cancer he had, and I certainly don't know the specifics of his experience with it. We don't know if he had any symptoms that were being monitored for a while before they really hammered out what was going on. All we know is that Neil played his final show in August 2015, announced himself retired in IIRC December 2015, and as of Rush's statement on January 10, 2020, Neil's cancer fight dates back "3 and a half years." So let's stop speculating. Rush as a touring entity and probably producer of new music ended with the final concert and Neil's retirement statement. Neil's passing in a vacuum is separate from this. Let's not make connections where there might not be any.

Edited by zappafrank
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I think most people can do the math and realize that Neil likely didn't know about any cancer during 2015. But now, it definitely makes sense why he's been so quiet over the last several years, as opposed to the story that he'd turned his back on drumming, writing, and all vestiges of the public eye because that was a conscious desire as part of his retirement.
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I think most people can do the math and realize that Neil likely didn't know about any cancer during 2015. But now, it definitely makes sense why he's been so quiet over the last several years, as opposed to the story that he'd turned his back on drumming, writing, and all vestiges of the public eye because that was a conscious desire as part of his retirement.

 

This X 1000.

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I think most people can do the math and realize that Neil likely didn't know about any cancer during 2015. But now, it definitely makes sense why he's been so quiet over the last several years, as opposed to the story that he'd turned his back on drumming, writing, and all vestiges of the public eye because that was a conscious desire as part of his retirement.

 

Fair point.

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I think most people can do the math and realize that Neil likely didn't know about any cancer during 2015. But now, it definitely makes sense why he's been so quiet over the last several years, as opposed to the story that he'd turned his back on drumming, writing, and all vestiges of the public eye because that was a conscious desire as part of his retirement.

 

He wanted to continue to write. At one point I think a Road Diary was mentioned.

 

In hindsight, that was a sign and the radio silence was very strange somewhat obvious of a potential problem. but it was just a vibe that could be explained away for a number of reasons. But it's all very tragic and sad.

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+1 on the cancer explaining the silence.

 

I suspect that he had the same issues that were documented with Gord Downie. Maybe we should be grateful we didn't see THAT.

 

Gord chose to go a different route and maybe Neil saw that and chose to go down a different path that was more true to himself. There's no right answer here..

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+1 on the cancer explaining the silence.

 

I suspect that he had the same issues that were documented with Gord Downie. Maybe we should be grateful we didn't see THAT.

 

Gord chose to go a different route and maybe Neil saw that and chose to go down a different path that was more true to himself. There's no right answer here..

He might not have chosen anything. It depends on what part of the brain was being affected. My cousin died of brain cancer and it originated in the part of the brain where speech is produced. Everything was normal, but he couldn't get the damned words out. Also, he thought he had an ear infection. My point is, we don't know if he could write or type or how cognizant he was.

I know Glen Campbell wanted his Alzheimer's documented, to raise awareness, and find a cure, but, obviously, Neil didn't want everyone to see him in his condition. I'd wager that he simply wanted to spend what time he had with his new family.

 

A better question might be: did he regret doing R40, not having that time with his family?

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Make no mistake; I think I would have taken Neil's approach with this (but that is a product of my personality).

If you're a Virgo, you probably would have. I'm the same way. I don't even want a funeral or anyone to know I've died, when it happens. Virgos generally don't want attention.
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I think if it were anyone but Neil Peart that was so quiet and out of the public eye for 3 years, I would have put it together that something was wrong. This was just Neil being Neil, I thought. Living the life of “an ordinary guy, something he just always wanted simply out of life”, as he stated in BTLS. Alex and Geddy were obviously still doing interviews, writing books, occasionally contributing to music etc , Neil wasn’t, but that sounded about right. If it were Alex Or Geddy so quiet so long, then we’d all have assumed something was wrong. That’s what makes it so ironic. Neil was famously private and shy and I think that reputation helped ensure his privacy over the course of his battle. It’s really lovely that his inner circle kept it in the inner circle throughout, I love that they did. Neil deserved that so much Edited by LeaveMyThingAlone
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I think if it were anyone but Neil Peart that was so quiet and out of the public eye for 3 years, I would have put it together that something was wrong. This was just Neil being Neil, I thought. Living the life of “an ordinary guy, something he just always wanted simply out of life”, as he stated in BTLS. Alex and Geddy were obviously still doing interviews, writing books, occasionally contributing to music etc , Neil wasn’t, but that sounded about right. If it were Alex Or Geddy so quiet so long, then we’d all have assumed something was wrong. That’s what makes it so ironic. Neil was famously private and shy and I think that reputation helped ensure his privacy over the course of his battle. It’s really lovely that his inner circle kept it in the inner circle throughout, I love that they did. Neil deserved that so much

 

you just said a lot of what I have been thinking about this .. no one really expected anything from Neil anyway after he retired .. I know that's why I was floored by the news .. everything was just as it should be .. ged and Alex were being ged and Alex .. Neil was just being Neil .. or so we all thought

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I don't believe that Neil was sick around the time he decided to retire from Rush, however if you take into consideration that he's been sick for about 4 years and Rush's last concert was about 5 years ago, I think it explains why Rush went from "We're still a band, this was just our last major tour" to suddenly "Rush is officially retired" around 2016. It really explains why Geddy, who has admitted several times, that he still has some fire in the furnace, only made two guest appearances playing bass, and did a single book signing tour since Rush ended...
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The timing doesn’t work out given his reported diagnosis, which puts it at a year or so after the final Rush show. Could the growing cancer possibly contributed to the ill effects on his body unbeknownst to Neil? Quite possibly.

 

How terrible I feel for Olivia. My wife lost her father at age 11 and it had a huge impact on her life, as of course you would suspect. I can’t imagine...

Edited by Presto-digitation
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All so freakin sad. And Geddy and Alex, costantly having to field questions about reuniting, one-offs, or just “have you seen Neil?” all the time. Especially Geddy on the last leg of his book tour.
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Neil said he was done backstage at the final LA show. Al and Ged wanted to do more and probably hoped Neil would be part of that, but done is done with Neil. He felt no obligation to do anything public and I get that. Even with Rush the past 15 years, he likely wanted any interviews to be really controlled and not discuss certain areas...like his daughter and wife's death. Since done is done, there was really no reason for him to provide anything publicly.

 

When you look at R40 footage, Neil looked paunchy and winded. So the retirement was not a surprise to me based simply on him getting old.

Edited by HemiBeers
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Neil said he was done backstage at the final LA show. Al and Ged wanted to do more and probably hoped Neil would be part of that, but done is done with Neil. He felt no obligation to do anything public and I get that. Even with Rush the past 15 years, he likely wanted any interviews to be really controlled and not discuss certain areas...like his daughter and wife's death. Since done is done, there was really no reason for him to provide anything publicly.

 

When you look at R40 footage, Neil looked paunchy and winded. So the retirement was not a surprise to me based simply on him getting old.

 

Yeah I thought he looked a bit out of shape on R40...but figured he is in his 60s, rich, and enjoying the finer things. As someone else here said, he could have been experiencing effects of his disease without knowing it. I would be surprised if he didnt, but who knows. I remember there being some rumors going around, pre-internet, in the early 90s (I think) about how he looked really skinny and shaved head and if he had some sort of cancer back then.

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