Highlights - Musicians

 

Neil Peart - Rush's Drummer

Born: September 12, 1952 Place: St.Catherines, Ontario, Canada. Dependants: wife: Jacqueline Taylor, passed away: June/1998, daughter: Selena Taylor, passed away: August/1997.

He Started playing the drums when he was 13, after his parents got tired of him beating up the furniture with the drum sticks. He got his first session of professional drum lessons for his birthday. His first drum kit was "a lovely little three-piece set with red sparkle".

Originally inspired by the agressive drumming of the late Keith Moon, he is also influenced by the likes of Carl Palmer and Bill Bruford.

Neil grew up near Toronto and played in a series of high school bands before moving to London, England during the early 70's in order to try and further is musical career.  While there he worked as a salesman at a shop called "The Great Frog" in the tourist district of Carnaby Street.  Disillusioned by the British music scene he later returned to Canada where he eventually hooked up with Geddy and Alex.  He became a member of Rush in June, 1974.

Neil likes to read and his lyrical influences stem from some of his literary heroes - Ernest Hemmingway, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dos Passos, Barth, Rand, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Neil has also written articles and editorials, and in 1994 coauthored a short story "Drumbeats" with Kevin J. Anderson for the horror anthology Shock Rock II.

 

Neil and Rush

After the release of an album named Rush, Rutsey was replaced with drummer Neil Peart, who took over as the band's chief songwriter. Rush released two albums the following year and in 1976, hit a breakthrough with the now platinum concept album 2112 (Moon/Mercury).
 

Several additional releases cemented the band's popularity, with 1977's A Farewell to Kings reaching the Top 40 in the U.S. and U.K. Rush continued to score gold and platinum with several seriously crafted albums, and eventually pushed into pop success with the single "The Spirit of Radio" off 1980's popular Permanent Waves. Moving Pictures continued the trend into the following year, producing one of the band's best-known songs in "Tom Sawyer."

The band saw success throughout the '80s based on the consistent release of albums, a rigorous touring schedule and a dedicated fan base. A late-decade slump had fans complaining of a loss of edge, but 1991's Roll the Bones (Atlantic) and 1993's Counterparts found hard-rocking success. The band solidified their presence in the '90s with the release of Test for Echo in 1996.