Neil Peart’s brother Danny has tragically died from the same type of cancer as the Rush drummer – find out more below.
The legendary drummer died in January 2020 after living with an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma for three-and-a-half years. He was 67 years old. A tribute concert was held in Los Angeles, California the following September.
Rush drummer Neil Peart performs at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on May 10, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The rock trio are touring in support of the album, “Snakes & Arrows.” (CREDIT: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Over the weekend (March 16), it was revealed that Neil’s younger brother Danny has died from glioblastoma as well, slightly over five years from the drummer’s passing. Neil and Danny’s sister Nancy Peart Burkholder confirmed Danny’s passing in a post in the Peart Family Events Facebook group – read the full post here.
She wrote in part about Danny: “On this dreary Sunday it is with great sadness that we share that this past Thursday evening we lost our third Peart man and 2nd brother, Danny, after his year and a half battle with glioblastoma (brain cancer).”
Nancy continued: “As a human, his motto was ‘be kind’. You wouldn’t find a more genuine and kind soul. He was sincere and sensitive and would always find a way to help and encourage. I don’t know of anyone that didn’t love him and even when he didn’t fully agree, he would find a way to make everyone happy with a lighthearted comment and quick laugh.”
She then let fans know that the Peart family would be honouring Danny by “planting a tree at Lakeside Park beside our father’s tree and Neil’s pavilion”, as well as “new award starting at this year’s golf tournament”, in tribute to his love for the sport.
It is unknown how old Danny Peart was at the time of his death, or how long he had been battling glioblastoma. Danny was an accomplished writer and poet, as well as a member of the League of Canadian Poets. He published two notable collections: 2016’s Stark Naked In A Laundromat, which included a foreword by Neil Peart, and 2017’s Another Mountain To Climb. He also wrote two books, Ruined By Love and Not Quite So Handsome.
Neil Peart. Credit: Clayton Call/Redferns
Most recently, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson revealed that numerous drummers had reached out to the band within “minutes” of the news breaking that Neil had died, pitching for auditions: “After Neil passed, it didn’t take more than a few minutes before we started getting e-mails from all kinds of drummers who wanted to audition for the band, thinking that we were just gonna replace somebody that we played with for 40 years who wrote all the lyrics for our music. I don’t know what some of these people were thinking.”
Rush last performed together for a farewell tour in 2015 playing 35 headline shows across North America, having formed over four decades prior. In 2022, Lifeson and Geddy Lee reunited in public to perform as part of the tribute shows in Los Angeles and London for late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Despite that show, Lifeson recently said that he is now satisfied where Rush left their tour in 2015 and ruled out any chance of the band getting back together. “The energy was fantastic around that show, I know, and some days I wake up wanting to go out and tour again and some days I don’t,” Lifeson explained. “For forty years Rush included Neil, and I don’t think putting some new version together would have the same magic.”
Despite ruling out playing live again, Lifeson said that he does still regularly jam with Lee and will continue to do so. “It’s good to jam with friends as you get older,” he added. “I need to play. Once a week I go to Ged’s – it’s in the calendar – keep my fingers moving, play Rush stuff, new jams. We do record it, but I couldn’t even begin to tell you where it’ll go.”
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