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40 years with Peart.... 50 with Rutsey?


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Was Rutsey still friendly with the guys after he left? Did he and Neil ever meet? I always thought it must've been awkward for John watching a band he helped form become such a huge success without him.
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Was Rutsey still friendly with the guys after he left? Did he and Neil ever meet? I always thought it must've been awkward for John watching a band he helped form become such a huge success without him.

 

He was friendly with them for some time, yes- I mean I don't think they were on bad terms, as it were. Alex was interviewed around 1990 and said he had just seen him recently, at that time, around Toronto, and they were friendly.

 

I don't know if he and Neil ever met.

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There was a great story here on TRF a few years ago in which some Rush fan BY CHANCE met John Rutsey at a bar. At the time, he didn't recognize John at all but was chatting/drinking with him for a few hours. The post went on saying what an interesting & nice guy he was. When the fan went to the restroom, Rutsey left (some kind of emergency) but kindly paid the bill without that guy's knowledge. The conversation between the bartender and the Rush fan after Rutsey split went something like this:

 

Bartender: John wanted to apologize for having left without saying goodbye. But he paid the bill and wanted to say thanks.

Rush fan: Oh.

Bartender: You DO know who that was, right?

Rush fan: No. Is he famous?

Bartender: Kind of. He's the drummer for Rush.

Rush fan: Come on. I'm a big Rush fan and no way was that Neil Peart.

Bartender: No, not Peart. The original drummer! John Rutsey.

 

The post ended with a photo of the then-unaware Rush fan and John Rutsey (who DID have the Phil Collins balding thing going on) sitting next to each other at the bar smiling.

 

The epilogue to that story is that THAT guy eventually was lucky enough to meet Geddy and/or Lifeson. He told them his Rutsey story and they said, "Yup. That's totally John. Friendly, generous guy and always offering to pay the bill/drinks."

 

We've heard countless times how nice the members of Rush are and it turns out that Rutsey was also one of those nice guys.

 

This is the Cliffs notes version of the story. The original story is much more rewarding. Maybe someone can track it down.

Edited by JohnnyBlaze
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I think Peart said he'd never met Rutsey. I remember Lifeson saying that he'd bumped into Rutsey in a Toronto gym in the late 80s and had worked out with him for a while after that. Edited by Tony R
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Um, is the OP aware than John Rutsey is dead?

 

I was just about to mention this. R.I.P. Rutsey.

I guess I thought it would've been common knowledge around here that he passed away some years ago.

Edited by Entre_Perpetuo
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