Neil Peart is Done With Rush

Geddy Lee, who just released "Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book Of Bass," revealed in an interview with SiriusXM's Eddie Trunk that drummer Neil Peart is not only done playing with Rush, but playing drums period.

"Neil is retired," Lee said. "He hasn't just retired from Rush; he's retired from drumming. He's not drumming anymore, and he's living his life. Which is fine -- Alex [Lifeson] and I are cool with it. We're all still total pals. In fact, Alex and I were there just a few weeks ago visiting him, and we stay in touch. And, of course, Alex lives very near to me, so we're constantly going out to dinner, 'cause he loves to drink everything in my wine cellar. We're still pals, and we all talk, but that period of our life is done."

This may not come as much of a shock to Rush fans, as Rush hasn't been active since the end of their "R40 Live" tour in 2015. Peart battled immense pain during the tour, including an infection in his foot that made it difficult to walk. Lee added "He is a perfectionist, and he did not want to go out and do anything less than what people expected of him. That's what drove him his whole career, and that's the way he wanted to go out, and I totally respect that."

Now that Lee's book is out, he's starting to think about creating new music. While having Peart on drums isn't an option, there may be a collaboration between Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, although Lee isn't sure what the future holds. "I don't know when and what shape that will take. I don't know if Alex and I will do something together.... I really haven't thought that far."

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_{Article image: Neil Peart of Rush at Charter One Pavilion on July 5, 2010. (Tankboy [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons.)}