Neil Peart, whose drum theatrics fueled the Canadian rock trio Rush to international fame, died Tuesday in Santa Monica after a long battle with brain cancer. He was 67. His longtime bandmates Gedd…
Marred only by the No. 11 peak of 1991’swhich was the band’s U.S. chart-topper since 1982’s The group’s 1970s albums all would go on to attain gold or platinum status stateside as its popularity grew. In all, Rush released 19 studios records and 10-plus live albums.
It was on the concert stage that Peart flourished. Seated amid and surrounded by a sprawling kit that held dozens of drums, cymbals, chimes, bells and more, he would stop every show with a solo that incorporating them all. In a post-’70s era when long solos often were frowned upon, Rush was among the few live acts whose audience ate them up — basically demanded it. And Peart never, ever let them down. His solos were accompanied by video that was synched to his performance.
A devotee of drum legend Gene Krupa and later the Who’s Keith Moon, he was known for stick tosses that seemed to scrape the rafters of the arenas Rush played routinely. When the band would play “Freewill,” for example, Peart would take advantage of the drum rest during its intro to hurl a stick skyward, always catching it just in time to pick up the beat.His seemingly impossible speed and flawless rhythm spurred countless air drummers — at his shows, listening to his records and in their cars.
Then there were what basically are drum hooks, sometimes nearly song-spanning solos, in tracks including “The Body Electric,” “Mystic Rhytms,” and “Manhattan Project.” But Peart also was known for his iconoclastic lyrics, touching on mythology, self-determination and general outside-the-rock-box themes.
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