Rush's Neil Peart was mentioned during the In Memoriam segment of this past weekend's Grammy Awards ceremony. A very short video snippet of Peart in concert was shown with the caption NEIL PEART - drummer, lyricist Rush. You can watch video of the In Memoriam below or at this location (at about the 19-second mark). TOOL drummer Danny Carey also thanked Peart in his acceptance speech for the band's Best Metal Performance Grammy win (for their song 7empest) as seen in this video. Canada's Grammy equivalent - the JUNO Awards - will take place in March and we should expect a more significant recognition of Peart during that ceremony given that he was from Canada and Anthem/SRO's Pegi Cecconi will be receiving the 2020 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award - not to mention Rush's large collection of JUNO Awards. So it's possible that some sort of special tribute (speeches and/or performances?) will occur, but nothing's been confirmed as of yet. This year's Rock Hall induction ceremony will take place in Cleveland on May 2nd, and that ceremony should also at least include a mention of Peart in the In Memoriam segment, but there's also an outside possibility that they'll put together some kind of tribute performance to open the show. Past ceremonies have included musical tributes to recently-deceased inductees such as David Bowie and Prince, so there is precedence. However, given the Rock Hall's past history with Rush and progressive rock in general, I wouldn't bet on it. That said, the Hall has honored Peart's passsing with a special exhibit that was put on display last week as seen in this tweet.
Wanted to show you the #NeilPeart tribute that just went up at the @rockhall
- Rachel Steele (@RachelSteeleCLE) January 23, 2020
RIP: 9/12/1952 - 1/7/2020 pic.twitter.com/MiLw5J6LCy
An effort supported by Peart's family is currently underway to create some kind of memorial at Lakeside Park in Neil's hometown of St. Catharines, Ontario. The effort gained some more steam this past week as reported by iHeart Radio:
A motion to begin the process to rename the Lakeside Park Pavilion after legendary Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart passed unanimously at St. Catharines city council. The motion from Walter Sendzik asks staff to prepare a report providing guidance about how to move forward with any future tributes. "So there are members of our community, and I know there are two members here today, who are actively engaged in looking at a statue or sculpture in recognition of Neil Peart's work that would placed at Lakeside Park, but it will have to come with a staff report. And that will come with this staff report as well." Peart's family and representatives for the band will also be consulted on any memorials or concerts in his name. ...
A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help pay for the memorial at this location, with over $3K of the $10K goal raised so far. There will also be a Neil Peart Fan Memorial Event and Benefit Concert presented by Overtime Angels in Toronto sometime this coming May as described in this article.
The latest edition of Prog magazine (#106) will honor the late Neil Peart with a cover feature titled A Farewell to the King. The issue will go on sale this coming Tuesday, February 4th. You can check out a preview of the article's first page here, and an 11-page sampler of the magazine here. From the Prog magazine Facebook page:
... There was only ever one man who was going to grace the cover of this issue and we pay tribute to late RUSH drummer Neil Peart who sadly died last month aged 67. We speak to those who knew him and explore his lyrics and his drumming while the prog and rock world also remember the man they called 'The Professor' ...
Autoweek.com posted an article this past week titled Autoweek Talks: Utility, the Playlist where the editorial staff came up with a music playlist that is "an exploration of things useful-and electric!-in musical form". One of the songs featured is Rush's The Body Electric:
In honor of drummer extraordinaire Neil Peart, who died on Jan. 7, Editor Wes Raynal opts for a song referencing a completely different kind of utility. Apropos, perhaps, that "The Body Electric" is drawn from Rush's continuing foray into a more electric, synth-heavy sound on the album Grace Under Pressure. For what it's worth, I think every playlist is made better with representation from Canada's preeminent power trio!
Best vehicle to listen to "The Body Electric" in: Raynal prefers it played loudly in the biggest SUV you can get your hands on.
The 2019 documentary on legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot titled Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind made its world premiere at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto last year, and has been getting regular showings at film festivals and special screenings ever since. The CBC will air the film on its documentary Channel this coming March, and it is already available for streaming for Canadian viewers on CBC Gem. Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson appear in the documentary (Geddy mostly), and here's a transcription of their comments from the film (thanks RushFanForever):
Geddy Lee: He [Gordon Lightfoot] to me is one of the greatest examples of timeless singer-songwriter, you know. A man dedicated to the word and to the tune. He is our poet laureate; he is our iconic singer-songwriter. He sent the message to the world that we're not just a bunch of lumberjacks and hockey players up here. You know, we're capable of sensitivity and poetry and that was a message delivered by the success of Gordon Lightfoot internationally. People were more willing to listen to someone from Canada because someone of such enormous talent had paved the way.
Alex Lifeson: He was at the top of the totem pole and we were proud of it.
Geddy Lee can be seen in the official trailer at about the 25-second mark. The film is also slated to hit US theaters this coming May.
In a Friday updates post earlier this month, I'd mentioned that ThatHashtagShow.com would be kicking off a new series of articles where they planned on covering Rush and their storied career, reviewing each of their many studio albums. They've done just that over the last few weeks, and have posted 5 articles so far, each covering 1 or 2 of Rush's albums up through Moving Pictures with more to come: Rush and Fly by Night, Caress of Steel, 2112, A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres, and Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures.
Here's the brief mention of Neil Peart during last weekend's Grammy Awards ceremony In Memoriam segment:
That's all for this week. Have a good weekend everyone.
