Neil Peart’s “Retired From Drumming”
If you’re a Rush fan and you haven’t yet accepted that the band is done, I’m afraid now is the time to come to grips with this reality.
In a recent interview with SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk, Geddy Lee said (as transcribed by Rolling Stone) said, “Neil is retired. He hasn’t just retired from Rush; he’s retired from drumming. He’s not drumming anymore, and he’s living his life. Which is fine — Alex [Lifeson] and I are cool with it. We’re all still total pals. In fact, Alex and I were there just a few weeks ago visiting him, and we stay in touch. And, of course, Alex lives very near to me, so we’re constantly going out to dinner, ’cause he loves to drink everything in my wine cellar. We’re still pals, and we all talk, but that period of our life is done.”
Lee cited Peart’s issues with physical pain during Rush’s R40 Live tour as a big reason from stepping away from the kit. “…He is a perfectionist, and he did not want to go out and do anything less than what people expected of him,” said Lee. “That’s what drove him his whole career, and that’s the way he wanted to go out, and I totally respect that.”
There you have it. Neil Peart is done, ergo, Rush is done. While it’s likely a bitter pill to swallow, comfort yourself knowing that Alex Lifeson is basically a wine mom, which is pretty great. That and Lee didn’t rule out he and Lifeson working on new music saying, “I don’t know when and what shape that will take. I don’t know if Alex and I will do something together. People keep me asking me and they want me to be definitive, and I can’t be, because I really haven’t thought that far.”
So, you’re telling me there’s a chance…YEAH!
Erica Banas is rock/classic rock news blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.
