Wow........the first band I ever followed, I am shocked. I assumed they had one last tour in them. I am shocked and saddened. RIP Neil
Terrible news. Huge part of my life, especially the HS years. Amazing drummer. Elegant poet. RIP Pratt
Exactly what I was thinking (about @ima_drummer2k ) Extraordinary talent. One of the best ever. I wasn’t a huge Rush fan but I have a ton of respect for their music and their creativity...of which Pert was an enormous part.
It feels like another part of my childhood it gone. Very sad and this song captures how I'm feeling right now.
I'm devastated. There are no words. Just in total shock when I saw this flash across my Amazon Echo. He was barely retired with a young daughter. RIP
No clue that he had brain cancer. Huge loss for the drum and larger music world. Saw Rush once and Neil did an 8 min solo. RIP.
Some fans may or should have known something was up because he was big about writing stories on his website mostly on his travels on his motorcycle. But, he hadn't posted a new story since May 2016. I'm guessing he was diagnosed around then. He even had a series of travel stories going with his last article being number six. He loved to write so one could derive he stopped publishing stories on his website for a reason. But, this was just unimaginable. He lived a full, great life with some terrible family tragedies along the way with the last horrible tragedy being his own. He likely wasn't even retired a year before he was diagnosed. I believe their last show was August 2015 in LA. He was never a fan of touring and wanted to be home. In fact, the last tour he did with the band...he was pissed that he had basically been cornered by the band and management to do another R40 (40th anniversary) tour. He cursed out loud in a fit of rage later that night in his hotel room before accepting it while ensuring they made it clear this was the last Rush tour. I was happy to attend that final tour's show in Dallas on the floor around the 15th row dead center. It capped the band's career brilliantly.