I regret having never seen RUSH in concert.

One of the most brilliant drummers ever to have graced a stage, Neil Peart, has died. 

Two things people should know about Rush (if they don't already): The 'z' in the song title, YYZ, is spoken as 'zed' not 'zee'. And Neil's surname is pronounced like the word 'pear' with a 't' tacked onto the end. I think no one in American media knows this, and, therefore, I didn't know Peart was 'pear-t' until I watched an interview with Neil on Strombo's old TV program a few years ago. 

Unlike many other stoner bands, if you will, of the 70s and 80s, Rush put out complex, technically challenging music. I mean, we are not talking slip-into-the-couch-and-zone-out Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin type jams. Rush kept you alert (does NOT rhyme with Peart) and actively engaged.

Have you ever watched any footage of Peart playing? Ariel shots will show you a man surrounded by an array of drums and cymbals. I heard that Peart needed to be air-lifted in and out of his drum kit. It was 360 degrees of percussion, baby. 

I'm certain the three members of Rush have been given all the music awards Canada could bestow upon them and I'm fairly sure Rush, too, have been inducted into both the US and Canadian Rock-n-Roll Halls of Fame. 

If there had been an award created for smartest, most kind-seeming drummer who didn't appear to have lost his shit in the face of sex and drugs while out touring, then Peart surely would have won that, too.