Two years later

[EagleMoon]

It really got to me for a while. It was like someone I knew personally had died. I was sad and a bit depressed. It was like a part of my life was missing. But now after all this time I can think of it and feel a little sad but it’s lessened over the last year and a half in particular.

[lerxt1990]

I'll take an occasional pause, give the occasional "sigh" and then get back to what I was doing.

 

I do the same when I think about Carl Sagan and a few other people who have greatly inspired me. :)

 

Well said.

 

I re-read Masked Rider and it made me think about him.

[lerxt1990]

[Rhyta]

with my father getting very sick and dying i have not thought f it at all.

 

with all these musicians dying it's sad yes. but i don't know any of them beyond i like their music. so the deaths heal quicker.

 

not too sound cold but yea.

 

Mick

 

Losing a parent is life altering. I think of the last year of my Mother's life and I couldn't tell you what musicians or celebrities passed that year. Puts things in a different perspective.

 

Take care of yourself this holiday season. :hug2:

[Charlotte7598]

Edited December 25, 2021 by Charlotte7598

[Laurabw]

The only thing I’m glad about is that he didn’t sing, because hearing his voice would make me sad. I’ve always been a big John Denver fan and certain songs it still breaks my heart to hear his voice all these years later.

[Charlotte7598]

By that logic, I'm gonna be super upset when Geddy dies. But I don't wanna think about that yet.

The only thing I’m glad about is that he didn’t sing, because hearing his voice would make me sad. I’ve always been a big John Denver fan and certain songs it still breaks my heart to hear his voice all these years later.

[Laurabw]

I know what you mean, but hopefully Geddy will live a good long life!

[IbanezJem]

EVH`s loss felt more significant to me, due to the length of time he`s been my musical hero and the feeling that maybe he still had some playing left to do. He was playing magnificently during those last VH shows.

 

Neil had taken to his retirement - not that it makes his passing less of a loss - but musically, he was done.

Edited December 26, 2021 by IbanezJem

[cygnify]

I still feel it. My drumming hero since ~1982. THE reason I picked up the sticks and got serious - and he was THE inspiration that kept me playing for ~40 years now.... Every gig I play, I think of him. Lots of drummers have influenced me, Neil was much more than that.

 

I have experienced a fair amount of death in my life - I've lost both of my parents, my grandparents, several beloved aunts and uncles, and some very close friends. Although I never met Neil - the closest I got were treasured postcards he sent to me (via Modern Drummer magazine), a pair of sticks Larry Allen gave me, and a couple friends that worked with him professionally - his passing did indeed affect me as though I had lost a friend. I have lost other musical inspirations - Chris Squire, John Wetton, Greg Lake, and, more recently, EVH, among others - but Neil was so much more than just a drummer I liked, or a musical inspiration, or a lyricist I liked, or someone I travelled to see in concert (49 times!), someone whose art I shared with basically every friend of my teen and adult life, etc. I suppose it started as a form of obsession in my young teen mind - wanting to play like him, to look like him, maybe even to think like him (Lol), but as I grew-up, I understood my own thinking and my own musical style and where it was similar or differed from his. I found a different relation to him as my life moved through various phases - but always my #1 drumming inspiration and Rush's music continued to feed me spiritually. I had accepted the end of Rush (as I think Neil so clearly and thoroughly explained in his last book, Far and Wide) and I have come to accept the passing of all those that meant so much to me in my life. Still, there is something so unfair and cosmically unjust about the way the Neil went down - after being "reborn" after all his personal tragedies, getting so little time to share with his loved-ones in retirement, and so soon after making that enormous life-changing event of leaving his love/hate relationship with being a professional musician, and it all being due to f***ing brain cancer - for a man so cerebral and vibrant. Really, just brutal. My mother passed away young, and due to cancer - and many of the same feelings that I have struggled with for 30+ years since her passing reverberated with Neil's. So, yeah, I still feel it.

Edited December 27, 2021 by cygnify

[lerxt1990]

Every so often I still watch "Dinner with Rush." I happened to be watching it the other day and was busy in the next room and just listened to it. When you aren't looking at them and just listening it becomes obvious that Neil's laugh is the loudest, bellowing and at times almost "crying with laughter." I encourage you to try this as an experiment and enjoy Neil's laughter.

[Charlotte7598]

I'm so sorry about what happened with your mom! I totally get where you're coming from and I still feel it to an extent too.

I still feel it. My drumming hero since ~1982. THE reason I picked up the sticks and got serious - and he was THE inspiration that kept me playing for ~40 years now.... Every gig I play, I think of him. Lots of drummers have influenced me, Neil was much more than that.

 

I have experienced a fair amount of death in my life - I've lost both of my parents, my grandparents, several beloved aunts and uncles, and some very close friends. Although I never met Neil - the closest I got were treasured postcards he sent to me (via Modern Drummer magazine), a pair of sticks Larry Allen gave me, and a couple friends that worked with him professionally - his passing did indeed affect me as though I had lost a friend. I have lost other musical inspirations - Chris Squire, John Wetton, Greg Lake, and, more recently, EVH, among others - but Neil was so much more than just a drummer I liked, or a musical inspiration, or a lyricist I liked, or someone I travelled to see in concert (49 times!), someone whose art I shared with basically every friend of my teen and adult life, etc. I suppose it started as a form of obsession in my young teen mind - wanting to play like him, to look like him, maybe even to think like him (Lol), but as I grew-up, I understood my own thinking and my own musical style and where it was similar or differed from his. I found a different relation to him as my life moved through various phases - but always my #1 drumming inspiration and Rush's music continued to feed me spiritually. I had accepted the end of Rush (as I think Neil so clearly and thoroughly explained in his last book, Far and Wide) and I have come to accept the passing of all those that meant so much to me in my life. Still, there is something so unfair and cosmically unjust about the way the Neil went down - after being "reborn" after all his personal tragedies, getting so little time to share with his loved-ones in retirement, and so soon after making that enormous life-changing event of leaving his love/hate relationship with being a professional musician, and it all being due to f***ing brain cancer - for a man so cerebral and vibrant. Really, just brutal. My mother passed away young, and due to cancer - and many of the same feelings that I have struggled with for 30+ years since her passing reverberated with Neil's. So, yeah, I still feel it.

[Bahamas]

Every so often I still watch "Dinner with Rush." I happened to be watching it the other day and was busy in the next room and just listened to it. When you aren't looking at them and just listening it becomes obvious that Neil's laugh is the loudest, bellowing and at times almost "crying with laughter." I encourage you to try this as an experiment and enjoy Neil's laughter.

 

He seemed almost unable to control himself, a testament to their absolute trust in each other? Like, I don't always have to been in control of my emotions, at least not around these two clowns!

A "safe space" and as a fan I feel absolutely lucky that it made it to the cut.

[invisible airwave]

Around the same time Bowie died in 2016 as well. This was a punch to the gut reaction for me.

[Lurkst]

I'm still sad at Neil's untimely passing but I miss Rush more :(

 

[78jazz]

I encourage you to try this as an experiment and enjoy Neil's laughter.

 

I bet this is what his bandmates miss the most - sharing laughter.

 

I suspect I will bury at least one friend before I am gone and I will miss sharing laughs with them. That may be the worst part about those who depart from this life while we are still here.

[Babycat]

I'm still sad at Neil's untimely passing but I miss Rush more :(

 

Me too. :(

[Charlotte7598]

[That One Guy]

Over it. His shy nature probably helped that happen quickly. He was VERY reserved, even by his usual standards, in his last four years of life.

 

Really sucks he had to leave his second family behind so soon. Olivia deserved better. On the plus side, he never had to see what the world became with COVID immediately after his passing.

 

I'm sure Neil is up there motorcycling the backroads of heaven.

[jamie]

it hits me at random times, or listening to certain songs. reminders of it still sting.

[jamie]

I'm still sad at Neil's untimely passing but I miss Rush more :(

 

Me too. :(

agreed, thinking back about when they were together and touring feels more bittersweet nowadays, but it still hurts.

[Chicken hawk]

How many of you have a tear in your eye when you hear a rush tune on the radio? I do.

 

:(

[goose]

Nice little tribute to Neil the musician.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNMXBo__SpU

[goose]

^^^ From the comments, a cool anecdote...

 

David J Perkins

 

 

Geez- what did I learn from Neil. I came up with Neil in St. Catharines,ONT. He was a phenom in those early high school bands. A few years after school I got the call that Neil's replacement in a local bar band had another gig so I worked for a couple of months subbing in. Neil came by one night and asked me about my ride patterns- I was a jazz based drummer so rock was not foreign to me (from the prog stuff) but I was more "swishy" than a rock player. He told me that toms were not the enemy and he sat in for a set that night and I got to see (on my drum set no less) him play the same tunes HIS way- it was eye opening. We spoke a bit after- I told him I would be working on voicing with more toms and bass drum if he got on the ride every so often lol.....he said he would but it would drive a lot harder to be useful...laughing.....a few bands later our orbits intersected as my bandmates ended up on the Moving Pictures album cover- our manager was Bob King (aka the Naked Guy) and Hugh was a pal . In the years following I found myself in Dan Lanois on a session with a big set of drums- 5 toms....!!! never played on a kit like that but what popped into my head- Neil's advice....!! I brought in all kinds of fills and orchestrations on that album and it was a blast. So thanks for the advice and when I first heard Spirit of Radio and the section with that driving ride/bell pattern- I smiled , he took our deal and made it into something amazing. He was meant to be great.

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[driventotheedge]

There's a guy that has a "RIP Neil Peart" and the years he lived in what must be permanent white stuff (considering how much it rains here) on his rear window that I see around town. (I'll try to get a picture one of these days). It always tends to re-hit me if you will when I see his car.