(01-15-2020 01:19 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  

(01-14-2020 07:34 PM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  

(01-14-2020 06:27 PM)SoMs Eagle Wrote:  

(01-13-2020 05:31 PM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  For whatever reason I was never a huge Rush fan, I liked them but didn't absolutely adore them. As far as timing goes John Bonham was the best ever IMO, especially since he heavily influenced Peart.

I wasn’t a huge Rush fan either. To be honest I didn’t know there were only three members. The original drummer was kicked out of the band for drug use interesting enough. I became a huge fan after seeing their biography. They escaped the typical rock band pitfalls and were basically an extended family. The story in the biography of the early days when they opened for Kiss was hilarious.

Don't get me wrong, they were a great three piece band and Geddy Lee is a phenomenol bass player. There were several of their songs I liked. I just grew up in a different era I guess. Like I said earlier Peart was heavily influenced by the best rock drummer ever, John Bonham. Was he as good, I don't really know as I never gave them that much attention to draw a comparison. I am going to check out the biography and download some of their tunes to see if I missed what everyone else here seems to acknowledge.

I heard one of the members in a piece on the radio the other day where he talked about the genuine affection they all shared for each other, that when they first met they just clicked instantly and how it just took a look on stage to make them all laugh as they automatically would know what a particular look conveyed. The speaker also left open the possibility of a reunion of sorts so maybe you guys haven't heard the last of them.

They were such an atypical band. They all married young and stayed married.

Sadly, Neil and his wife Jackie lost their daughter at 19 in 97 to a one-car accident. Neil's wife died of cancer the following year. He remarried in 2000 and remained married until his recent death.

After his wife’s death he climbed on a motorcycle and left. Geddy and Alex didn’t hear from him for two years. One day he just shows back up and says let’s get to work. He was a tragic figure as well as an interesting one. BTW he was a voracious reader of sometimes obscure things. That’s where most of their lyrics came from.