Canadian Rocker Andy Curran Talks About The Passing of Neil Peart
I recently had a chance to talk with Andy Curran about the new project he’s involved in with RUSH legend, Alex Lifeson, called Envy of None. Andy worked with the iconic band for many years, so I had to ask him about the passing of “The Professor,” Neil Peart, and how long people knew of his sickness.
“The close Rush family, as I’ll call it, really includes the band, management company and his very close friends and family, we knew that Neil had been sick when he gave us the announcement probably three years before everyone else knew,” he said. Andy went on, “Neil asked for privacy, he’s a very private man.”
He said that the terminal brain cancer he had was very hard on him and it just showed the strength Neil had to fight it off for so long.
“We miss him, man. He was such a sweet guy,” he said. “So respectful, and well spoken, and generous. A lot of people took his shyness as an arrogance. He was not arrogant; he was just a very private guy.”
He said one of Neil’s favorite career moments was one that might surprise some people. “When he did the remake of the Hockey Night in Canada theme song, he told me that was one of the most rewarding things he’s ever been in on, because he produced it, he played drums on it, he picked all the musicians for the big band, he did a video. His drum kit went into the hockey hall of fame!”
He said that as a kid growing up in St. Cathrines, Ontario, that was a lot of fun for him.
Listen to the interview, along with wrestling legend Chris Jericho, below, and watch the video of Neil playing the HNIC theme song.
