So often we find ourselves enamored by celebrity. The people that entertain us seem to hold a special place. The recent death of Rush drummer Neil Peart made me realize exactly why we hold some entertainers in such high regard.
Neil has always been a tremendous part of my life. People will often ask what my favorite song is, and you would think that would be difficult for me, having heard millions upon millions of songs in my life. It really isn’t very hard. The Rush song, “2112,” has always been the perfect song to me. I still grip my chair and squirm a little when I listen to it. I have Neil Peart to thank for so much of that.
Neil Peart (pronounced Peert) was a man that was not only heralded as one of the greatest drummers to ever walk the Earth, but was also respected as a brilliant lyricist with a genius mind. Peart had fame and fortune but he also had great tragedy in his life. Upon losing his 19-year old daughter in a fatal car crash and his wife to cancer within a span of ten months in ’97-‘98, he rode his motorcycle on a therapeutic journey from Canada to Mexico, chronicling the trip in his inspiring book Masked Rider: Travels On The Healing Road.
I belong to a couple of Rush fan groups on Facebook and you can only imagine what the reactions were like upon learning of Peart’s passing. It was as if the apocalypse had hit. Reading those reactions, and hearing the reactions of the entire music industry, made me realize that this man’s celebrity status altered the course of so many lives. Tales of drummers picking up sticks because of what they heard him play, and people that found ways to cope with loss because of what he said. Forgive me, but I think when you can influence and bring help and happiness to entire generations of people, you deserve to be held in some higher regard than the rest of us.
Thank you for so much help and happiness, Mr. Peart. Godspeed.
