In reply to FactorXXX:
Very sad news.
I started playing drums when I was eleven years old and like most musicians into rock music, I quickly discovered that Rush were the technical standard by whom all musicians were measured. I spent months, if not years, of my life learning to play the Rush back catalogue, and in the same way that climbing with people who are better than you pushes you to improve, Neil Peart was the driving influence behind my passion for drumming. For me, he redefined what drums were capable of adding to a song instead of just keeping the beat.
I was consumed by drumming. I practised three hours every weekday after school and eight hours a day at weekends. I can still remember the joyous sense of teenage satisfaction when I learned to play songs like YYZ, Xanadu and La Villa Strangiato. I even learned to play the Exit Stage Left drum solo (complete with cow bells), which I played at the school concert for all the mums and dads. Those were the days ha ha!
Right now, I'm raising a few glasses to his memory and thinking about all the blood blisters that burst on my snare in my quest to be 1% as good as him.