More often than not, I find myself outright despising the so-called “trending for you” topics on Twitter; it seems that site has no idea who I am or what I’m interested in based on the news and hashtags it frequently recommends to me. Admittedly, however, those trending topics have very occasionally served as a source of news that’s actually relevant to my interests. Somewhat shockingly, that’s how I learned of the particularly somber topic upon which I wish to report today.

The news was publicly announced this past Friday (January 10th, 2020) that Neil Peart, the legendary drummer, percussionist, and primary lyricist from the venerable Canadian progressive rock band known as Rush, passed away earlier last week at age 67 after a battle with brain cancer. This news has understandably come as quite an unexpected, unpleasant shock to legions of the band’s fans, myself included.

As part of the group that was affectionately referred to by fans as “the Holy Triumvirate,” Peart’s career in music spanned several decades; he initially joined Rush in 1974 and remained the band’s drummer and percussionist until his official retirement from music in December 2015 due to various health issues. Rush’s guitarist, Alex Lifeson, later confirmed in early 2018 that after Peart’s retirement, the band was to be considered “basically done.”

Longtime fans of Rush and the band’s backstory will know, however, that Peart’s announcement in 2015 technically wasn’t his only retirement from music. Within the span of only ten months, between August 1997 and June 1998, Peart lost both his first daughter and common-law wife of twenty-three years. To cope with his grief, Peart instructed his band mates at his daughter’s funeral to “consider [him] retired” while he took a lengthy sabbatical in order to give himself time to heal.

Neil ultimately made the fateful decision to return to Rush sometime thereafter, and published the memoir Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road in 2002 as a reflection upon these tragedies and the mechanisms he used to cope with the resulting emotional toll. I suspect his passing has begun to take a similar toll on Rush fans worldwide, myself included.

To conclude this article on a particularly personal note, Rush has been firmly cemented as my favorite band for several years now for various reasons. I cannot help but feel as though the world of music as a whole has suffered a notable loss in the wake of Neil Peart’s passing. I suspect that many Rush fans would agree with that sentiment as the news of his demise spreads. Peart’s tremendous skill in both the musical and lyrical arts, as well as his remarkable ability to manage emotional trauma, have inspired me to hopefully one day become as proficient and revered a musician as he and his band mates are deservedly considered.

I’d like to once again leave today’s final word to you, dear reader. Are you a Rush fan to any degree? If so, perhaps you have fond memories of your experiences with the band and their music you might like to share; I encourage you to do so in the comments below in remembrance of the band’s iconic drummer. For my part, I’m going to go try to learn to play a select few of the band’s songs that were included as DLC in Ubisoft’s guitar-teaching Rocksmith titles in Neil’s memory.

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