I think we had guessed that, he hasn't even updated his website for 3 years either and has presumably given up writing his books too. Still, given the previous tragedy in his life I don't blame the man for wanting to live his new life to the full and am very grateful to have been lucky enough to enjoy his music (and books too) for all my adult life. Thanks Neil & Rush.
He deserves to retire,Tragedy in his life and book he wrote ,How he toured fought thru it was amazing.
I honestly think ,Now he has dealt with it .He retiring from drumming ,Imho he would of retired sooner from tragedy .
But people cope with loss differently,He held his head high ,Gave us 30 plus years of music .
Man is legend ,Will not be forgotten.
Thanx rush and neil for 30 plus years of amazing music
Not only did Neil Peart retire, he left at the very top of his field (and Rush went out with a great album in Clockwork Angels). As others have already said, he well deserves it. Thanks Rush & Neil for all the good times.
He's earned his retirement, having given so much of his life to his fans, and endured the crap he went through. Thanks Neil; have fun.
Gnish-gnosh borble wiff, shlauuffin oople tirk.
old news..... didn't know RS still reported on music.
Well, they're still hedging their bets, with Geddy saying it's not impossible to see the three of them again, though not playing live. Maybe he means as "holograms." Anyway, I'm sure they're tired of being asked for now.
Geddy and Alex are going to get antsy to play live (Alex has already done so), so I predict we'll see them put together some kind of project with either just a drummer or perhaps several guests some time in the next year or two. The pressure to then tour it will be overwhelming, but I'd bet against a long Rush-type arena tour.
Anyways, it's fun to speculate but we shall see...
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
That wont happen ,I read in interview if one person was not feeling touring ,They did not do it.
Whether it be making cd ,whateva this is how band survived as trio for so long .
They respected each others boundaries, lifes commitments etc.
Something that is rare feat ,within bands it kept egos at bay also.
Not to say Geddy ,or Alex wont do some session work or collabs solo etc.
But Rush as whole live ,If Neil not feeling it they wont do it.
Like I said ,Thats how this band functioned for 30 plus years .
I love that ,within a band mutual respect.
Yes. It was quite clear from his books and especially, his "News" essays published on his website that the end was coming.
The guy gave us so many gifts over the decades. As a drummer, I really admire his drumming. My life would be less rich if he hadn't produced his fine catalog of drumming and lyric writing. But I feel an even greater gift were his books and essays.
Bruford and Peart and Collins were always my favs. All three knew when it was time to stop. Kudos to them.
This is all true of the past.
It isn't that Peart isn't feeling well - he's retired. Lee and Lifeson have been playing together for nearly 50 years, and I doubt that stops now if they can both play and want to. I wouldn't be surprised to see an album but likely not called Rush.
It feels like Neil lost interest in playing rock music. He showed a strong interest in learning to play jazz which didn't come naturally to him. It was painful to watch him try to "swing" a beat, and there was no outlet for him within the rock context working in Rush. I don't think a musician can really retire from music, nor should they need to.
This is a bit painful to watch. A rock drummer trying to play jazz. He's playing too much from the elbows. Too tiring on the body. The great jazz drummers played in the fingers.
The great rock drummers were jazz drummers first... this is the problem he is having as well as most modern rock drummers.
Look at Charlie Watts, still playing jazz competently and enjoying it more than his "day job".
Most people would falsely claim that Peart is as much better drummer than say Charlie Watts. But in fact, Watts is light years ahead of Peart on the technical side of jazz playing. A great jazz drummer supports the music, not in just time and groove but in nuance and conjecture. Peart in this video turned the whole into "him". It's been his problem his entire career, and probably why he is retiring... because it actually is flat out "too tiring".
Here is very rare clip of Watt's actually getting down with some heavy's... just playing circles around Peart.
This is why Peart wanted to learn jazz to improve his technique, but it's just too late to "unrock" himself.
Last edited by Skullhead; 12-20-2018 at 11:22 AM.
In the early 60's, if you took drum lessons, you learned jazz, because that was what drumming was then. You were taught jazz technique so you could play in any musical outfit... big band, blues, etc. All the early prog drummers could swing a beat and they learned triplet separation in their lead hand. Even Bill Ward from Black Sabbath admitted to growing up and learning jazz drums. Listen to "Fairies Wear Boots" and it's a standard jazz groove. He just added a little elbow into it. Today, rock drummers are listening to the last generation of rock drummers who play straight time and haven't taken the time to learn proper stick technique... like Peart. So while he has tried to learn it, he doesn't get it because he just played rock drums for too long. So now it's just extremely tiring and abusive to his body as he ages, and you can see it in his playing. However, if you look at Charlie Watts who is much older than Peart, he can continue to play competently and enjoy music as much as ever because he learned technique the right way as a youth. He learned to play in a relaxed way, letting gravity and technique do the work rather than having a constant tension in the body wringing on itself for hours on end which just tears you up over time.
No offense to Charlie Watts, but he can't play like Neil Peart either.
I'm not going to argue with you, because it's all just a matter of taste and different developing styles. It's cool that you hold jazz in such high regard -- I do as well. But there's great music out there that has absolutely nothing to do with jazz also.
At least Neil is trying - nothing wrong with learning new ways of playing an instrument. I never understand why some here are so critical of the music and musicians we claim to love.
I think we need to warn Dave Kerzner to keep Marco under lock and key for awhile...
I mean if Geddy Lee comes to you and says I'd like to borrow your drummer..what do you say?
Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457
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