Neil Peart
September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020
COPYRIGHT FUTURE 2020
We were sitting in Topanga Canyon, California, Neil Peart and I, at the Inn Of The Seventh Ray, his choice. We had already moved seats once, because a nearby babbling brook was overwhelming my tape recorder. But if it wasn’t the small stream of water coming down the nearby hill that stopped us, then it was the extraordinary mixture of pan pipes and soothing new-age music coming from the venue’s speakers. At one point a unique interpretation of Greensleeves made us look up sharply from our raw soup. Soup, the menu told us, that had been ‘created through the vibrations of each day’. I was quick to point out how much that sounded like one of his lyrics, and that that was clearly why he’d chosen this place.
It was spring 2012. Spirits were high, and I was there to interview Neil for Clockwork Angels, Rush’s final album – this seemed like an impossible idea at the time, given its energy and lustre. The band were in town to add the final touches to the record’s mix at Jim Henson Studios. It was Neil’s eighteenth album alongside bassist/singer Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson, who he’d joined in Rush following the departure of John Rutsey, arriving in time for second album Fly By Night.
Unusually for a drummer, Peart also wrote Rush’s lyrics. “I am a fan of Neil’s, and I love being a collaborator with him, because he is so objective and easy to work with,” said Geddy. “He’ll even allow me to suggest lyrics – a word that might work well – and he’ll
