Neil Peart -- The Latest News

Neil Peart wins 2015 MD poll award for Best Recorded Performance (Video)

2015-04-02T11:46:00.001-07:00

The results for the Modern Drummer 2015 Readers Poll are in, and Neil Peart took the top spot for Recorded Performance (Video) category:

Neil Peart, Clockwork Angels Tour (Rush)
Mike Mangini: Live at Luna Park (Dream Theater)
Simon Phillips: Live in Poland: 35th Anniversary Tour (Toto)
Zakir Hussain with Steve Smith, Eric Harland and Giovanni Hidalgo, The SFJazz Sessions (Zakir Hussain)
Brann Dailor, Live at Brixton (Mastodon)

For those who are counting, Neil has now won Best Recorded Performance 15 times! Here's the full list:

1981: Moving Pictures
1982: Exit... Stage Left
1983: Signals
1985: Grace Under Pressure
1986: Power Windows
1988: Hold Your Fire
1989: A Show of Hands
1990: Presto
1992: Roll The Bones
1993: Counterparts
1997: Test for Echo
1999: Different Stages
2005: R30
2007: Snakes & Arrows
2015: Clockwork Angels Tour (Video)

In recent years, Peart has won additional awards, including:

Modern Drummer Reader's Poll 2014: #1 Educational Book - Taking Center Stage by Joe Bergamini and Neil Peart
Modern Drummer Reader's Poll 2013: MVP, Best Prog Drummer
Modern Drummer Reader's Poll 2012: Best Prog Drummer
Modern Drummer Reader's Poll 2012: Best Educational Video - Taking Center Stage

Congratulations to all the winners!

Neil Peart wins two Modern Drummer Reader's Poll awards

2013-06-01T17:16:00.001-07:00

The Modern Drummer Reader's Poll results are included in the July 2013 issue, and Neil Peart has won both MVP and Prog categories.

Here are the results:

MVP:

Neil Peart
Travis Barker
Gavin Harrison
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Prog:

Neil Peart
Gavin Harrison
Mike Mangini
Todd Sucherman

Here's some info from the article:

This is Peart's first win in the relatively new MVP category; past winners were Max Weinberg in 2010, Mike Portnoy in 2011, and Mike Mangini in 2012. It's also Neil's third year in a row taking top honors in the Prog category.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Thanks to Rushisband.com for the head's up!

Rush wins Juno for Rock Album of the Year

2013-04-21T12:30:00.001-07:00

Even though the awards ceremony won't be until later tonight, the Juno Awards Twitter account tweeted that Rush has won the Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year.

Rush then tweeted the following:

Congrats to Rush!

Rush inducted into RockWalk on Tuesday, November 20

2012-11-20T00:56:00.001-08:00

Today, in LA, Rush will be inducted into Guitar Center's RockWalk. Details below.

Renowned Rock Trio Rush to be Inducted into Guitar Center's Historic RockWalk (via PR Newswire)

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Guitar Center is proud to announce the upcoming induction of renowned rock legends Rush, into the retailer's historic RockWalk. The exclusive, invite only induction ceremony is set to take place on Tuesday, Nov. 20, at Noon at Guitar Center's Hollywood�

Video: Rush accept "Album of the Year" award for CA

2012-09-10T08:41:00.001-07:00

Rush accept the award for Album Of The Year at the 2012 Progressive Music Awards.

Neil Peart wins two Modern Drummer 2012 poll awards

2012-06-06T19:52:00.001-07:00

Neil Peart has won two Modern Drummer 2012 Reader's Poll Awards for:

Best Prog Drummer
Best Educational DVD - Taking Center Stage

The full results are available in the July 2012 Modern Drummer, available on newsstands now.

Congrats to Neil and all the other winners!

Thanks to Rushisaband for the head's up!

Rush receive Governor General's Award for Performing Arts

2012-05-08T00:14:00.001-07:00

Update: 7/21/12 - Rush's acceptance speech is now online.

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Over the weekend, all three members of Rush were in Ottawa to accept the Governor General's Award for Performing Arts: 2012 Lifetime Artistic Achievement (Popular Music).

Congrats to Rush and all the other recipients!

Photos, video, and more:

The Toronto Star

The Canadian Music Scene

Film: Inner Rush

Winnipeg Free Press: MPs, ministers get a Rush from award-winning band's Commons visit

Thanks to Rushisaband and Power Windows for the head's up.

Rush receives Revolver Golden Gods Lifetime Achievement award

2012-04-12T17:50:00.001-07:00

Last night, April 11, in Los Angeles at Club Nokia, Neil Peart accepted the Revolver Golden Gods Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement award. The award was presented by Tenacious D (Kyle Gass and Jack Black).

During the speech, Neil said, "Our lifetimes aren't over. Our achievements aren't over. But this is, like, so far so good, and we'll keep trying to get better."

Go to a story on Ultimate Classic Rock.

Bootleg video on YouTube of Neil's acceptance speech.

Thanks to Rushisaband for the head's up!

Rush awarded Governor General Performing Arts Award

2012-03-08T12:07:00.001-08:00

The Governor General of Canada has given Rush the Performing Arts Award.

Read the CBC story here.

Neil Peart's reaction to the award via the Cape Breton Post:

"We are especially appreciative for the presentation of this lifetime achievement award now -- while we are still active (Too active, our families might say!)," said Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart in an emailed statement, noting that the band was putting the finishing touches on its 20th studio album, "Clockwork Angels," with a fall tour planned.
"Since our performance 'lifetimes' aren't quite over yet, this high honour is not just a reward; it is an inspiration. We will continue to try to earn it."

The awards gala will be held on May 5 at the NAC. Typically, the winning band performs at the gala, according to the Ottawa Citizen.

Other winners include:

Janina Fialkowska, a classical concert pianist with a 35-year career as an international star.
Paul-Andre Fortier, a dancer and choreographer who has created 49 original works, including Loin, tres loin for dancer Peggy Baker and Cabane for his own company Fortier-Danse-Creation.
Denis Marleau, a Quebec theatre director, stage designer and artistic director who is regularly featured at Montreal's Festival TransAm�riques and at festivals around the world, including the Avignon Festival.
Deepa Mehta, the film director and screenwriter who created Oscar-nominee Water and is to release Midnight's Children later this year.
Mary Walsh, the Newfoundland-born writer and comedian, who starred in CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Hatching, Matching and Dispatching.

Each laureate receives a cash award of $25,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and a commemorative medallion struck by the Royal Canadian Mint.

Thanks to Power Windows and Rushisband.com for the head's up!

Neil Peart inducted into the Classic Drummer 2011 Hall of Fame

2012-03-05T23:22:00.001-08:00

Classic Drummer magazine has inducted Neil Peart, along with three other drummers, into the 2011 Hall of Fame. Here's a picture of Neil with his award.

The other drummers inducted for 2011 include: Doug Cosmo Clifford, DJ Fontana, and Hal Blaine.

Here's an excerpt about this award from the Classic Drummer website.

The Classic Drummer Hall of Fame invites our readers to select and pay tribute to those who have meant so much to music and those who appreciate it. Below is a list of 50 of music's most influential classic drummers of the 20th Century. While many continue to be vital musical forces to this day, all are known for their contributions throughout an era that begins with the introduction of the modern drum set and ends as the 1900s began to wind down. We invite you to vote for the 12 players who, in your opinion, should be The Classic Drummer Hall of Fame's first inductees.

"Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage" wins Juno award for Music DVD of the Year

2011-03-26T20:56:00.001-07:00

At the 40th Juno Awards in Toronto this evening, the Rush documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage won for Music DVD of the Year. Click here for a list of all the winners.

Congratulations to filmmakers, Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn, Pegi Cecconi, Noah Segal, Shelley Nott, John Virant, and RUSH Alliance.

Rush has received other seven Juno awards since 1975:

1975 Most promising group of the year
1978 Group of the year
1979 Group of the year
1990 Artist of the Decade (80's)
1991 Best Hard Rock/Metal album - Presto
1992 Hard Rock album of the year - Roll the Bones
2004 Music DVD of the year - Rush in Rio

2011 Drummies voting now open

2011-03-13T14:12:00.001-07:00

While Neil can't win "Drummer Of The Year" anymore, because he was inducted into Drummies Hall Of Fame, you can still vote for him in other categories. Here's the press release:

http://www.drummagazine.com/features/post/the-2011-drummies-voting-is-now-open/

Drummies voting site

Neil Peart to be inducted into the new Drummies Hall of Fame

2010-12-19T15:20:00.001-08:00

In 2010, Neil Peart won his fourth Drummer of the Year Drummie award. As part of the 20th Anniversary of the Drummies, in January, 2011, Neil Peart and 10 other drummers will be inducted into the new Drummies Hall of Fame:

Next year, Enter Music Publishing will celebrate its 20^th anniversary. (Phil Hood, publisher and co-founder of Enter Music Publishing) noted that the company has already planned to conduct promotions and special events in conjunction with its anniversary. One of those is the launch of The Drummies Hall Of Fame. Eleven drummers who have won five or more Drummies will be inducted in January 2011. In addition, the company will be unveiling new digital products throughout the year.

DRUMMER CAFE ~ Enter Music Publishing Thrives And Survives In 2010 Looking Back At DRUM!�s Rolling Ride Over The Year | News | Music Industry

AllAboutJazz.com - Neil Peart Barely Paradiddles Past Travis Barker Winning Fourth Straight "Drummer Of The Year

2010-07-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Interesting article about this year's Drummies. There's even a quote from Rushisband.com's Ed Stenger!

Jazz | AllAboutJazz.com

Neil Peart wins Drummer of the Year award

2010-07-17T12:43:00.001-07:00

Neil Peart has won the 2010 DRUM! magazine Drummer of the Year award -- for the fourth year in a row.

2010 Drummie Award Results

Runners up included: Travis Barker, Jimmy Sullivan, Mike Portnoy, and Aaron Gillespie

Neil also was a runner up for:

Live Performer (Aaron Gillespie won)
Progressive Rock Drummer (Mike Portnoy won)

Congratulations, Neil, and all the drummers!

Voting now closed for 15th Annual Drummies - Updated

2010-06-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Update: 6/14/10 - Voting for this year's Drummies is now closed. I received a note from the contest publishers that the voting for this year's Drummies set a record. Find out who won in the August 2010 issue of DRUM!, which hits newsstands on July 12.

Enter Music Publishing Hits A Record During Drummies Voting 2010

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The 15th Annual Drummies are now open for voting. Neil Peart has won Drummer of the Year for the past three years. To read more about the Drummies, see the following press release:

DRUMMER CAFE ~ Enter Music Publishing Rolls Out Voting For 15th Annual Drummies | News | Music Industry

To vote, go to this site:

Official voting site

Interview with Neil Peart: CANOE -- Rush: Rush-ing into Songwriters Hall

2010-03-26T20:40:00.001-07:00

Here's yet another interview with Neil Peart. Some really interesting stuff in this one. For example, here's what he had to say about Subdivisions.

"It's a very unusual song construction lyrically and musically that we managed to make work," he said. "It was written at a time when we weren't working, so to speak. We were mixing a live album and we just started playing around and wrote a song for fun. Although it's very serious in it's musical structure, one of the most complicated actually that we've had in terms of arrangement drum part alone, it's a really intricate drum part to play and consequently I still love playing it almost 30 years later and that's a good testament."

CANOE -- JAM! Music - Artists - Rush: Rush-ing into Songwriters Hall

via Power Windows

Rush Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction

2010-03-20T17:51:00.001-07:00

I just received an e-mail stating that all three members of Rush will attend the Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction, and that there's a 20% discount on tickets available to Rush fans. The event takes place on March 28 at 8:00 p.m. at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.

For more information, see the webpage version of this e-mail:

Rush Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction

Neil Peart wins Drummie for third year

2009-07-07T13:38:00.001-07:00

Update: 7/14 - Here's the official Press Release from DRUM! magazine.

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Neil Peart has won DRUM! magazine's Drummer of the Year for the third year in a row. He also won Best Progressive Rock Drummer.

The results will be published in the August 2009 edition of DRUM!

Thanks to Michael at NeilPeartDrumsticks.com via Rushisaband.com and Power Windows.

Neil Peart Wins "Drummie Of The Year" for a Second Time

2008-07-15T13:09:00.001-07:00

The official announcement of Neil Peart winning "Drummie of the Year" for a second time is now online. You can read it here:

Neil Peart's Progressive Percussion Proves Itself Again; Nominated "Drummer Of The Year" For A Second Time In 'Drummies 2008'

Excerpt:

San Jose, Calif - He's done it again: Neil Peart has been selected "Drummer Of The Year" in DRUM! Magazine's Drummies 2008, a prestigious reader survey contest comprised of 42 categories, conducted by Enter Music Publishing, publishers of hip/drum percussion magazines worldwide. More than 5000 drummers nominated Peart; the runners-up were Stanton Moore, Mike Portnoy and Jimmy Sullivan.

Congrats, Neil!

Site Updates and News - 7/4/08

2008-07-04T16:51:00.001-07:00

As of this writing, Rush is currently on the final leg of their 2008 Snakes & Arrows tour. From what I've gathered, the tour has been successful, even though ticket sales are down.

On the Snakes & Arrows page, I've added a few links:

Photo Gallery 2008 - Containing some great photo sets of The Gorge and Clark County, by Michael Thompson and Monica Z.
A link to Snakes & Arrows photos from Rush.com.
Photos added to the Latest Drum Setup page, including a photo of Neil's current warm-up kit and pictures of Neil's stage kit being set up.
An archive of reviews, opinions, articles, and opinions on the Snakes Feeds page.
A link to NeilPeartDrumsticks.com's Fans who received NEP drumsticks during the Snakes & Arrows tour

In my personal blog, I've added reviews of all the shows I attended:

Some of the more interesting stuff I'm come across in the news department:

Neil Peart has won DRUM! magazine's Drummer of the Year award for the second year in a row. The results are on newsstands in the August 2008 issue. To read last year's article, go to the digital version of DRUM! November 2007. Also, check out the article in the same issue entitled Neil Peart and Gary McCracken: A Two Prog Approach about the making of Battlescar. You can also read the article on Gary McCracken's site

Rush Never Sleeps: Rolling Stone -- If you haven't read this yet, check out the surprisingly positive article on Rush in Rolling Stone. For most Rush fans, this article appearing in RS is not unlike the fall of the Berlin Wall. However, this is not the first article that has appeared in Rolling Stone about Rush. An article about Rush by David Fricke, a longtime RS reporter, appeared in the May 28, 1981 issue: Rush: Power From the People. Like the current article, this one tries to decipher the Rush riddle that has eluded the popular media and rock critics.

Neil Peart's favorite cookie is the Pepperidge Farms' Nantucket (regular, not double chocolate). Neil's tour bus driver, Dave, recently posted a blog entry on his MySpace page about the elusive cookie -- and how they sometimes catch fire.

Finally, my friend's Rush Auctions are back. This week, you can get some great Neil Peart posters.

Neil Peart wins two 2008 Modern Drummer awards

2008-04-03T16:42:00.001-07:00

Even though it's not official yet, I've confirmed from bigdrumthump.com and Alfred.com that Neil Peart has won two 2008 Modern Drummer Reader's Poll awards. It appears bigdrumthump got this from Sonor.com, who has since taken down their posting.

The full results will appear in Modern Drummer's July 2008 issue, which hits newstands on May 30. Congrats, Neil, and all the other drummers!

The 2008 awards include:

ROCK DRUMMER
1. NEIL PEART
2. Chad Smith
3. Stewart Copeland
4. Alex Van Halen
5. Jason Bonham

RECORDED PERFORMANCE
1. NEIL PEART (Rush): Snakes & Arrows
2. Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree): Fear Of A Blank Planet
3. Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater): Systematic Chaos
4. Jack DeJohnette (Michael Brecker): Pilgrimage
5. Roy Haynes: A Life In Times

He also came in fifth in the Progressive Rock category:

PROG
1. GAVIN HARRISON
2. Virgil Donati
3. Mike Portnoy
4. Danny Carey
5. Neil Peart

For those who are counting, this gives Neil 14 awards in the "Best Recorded Performance" category and 8 awards in the "Best Rock Drummer" category. As most of us have seen, Neil doesn't take these awards for granted (read the October 2006 letter from Neil on this page).

Site updates and NEP news (12/15/07)

2007-12-15T01:48:00.001-08:00

Here are a few updates from the site, as well as a few NEP news items.

Site updates

Two new postcards posted to the Postcards from Neil section.
Four new drum kits posted to my Replicas page. These include kits from Pierre Martin, Johnny Sillers, Adam Alquist, and an R30 commemorative kit from John Buckland. As an added treat, I've included a few YouTube videos from Pierre and Johnny, and if you're a fan of Neil Peart you need to check these guys out. I've included links to their YouTube pages and websites as well. Thanks to all the drummers for sending in their kit pictures.
New picture of Neil's S&A drum kit from Drumhead Issue 4 now on Neil Peart's Setup page.

NEP news items

Neil and Rush were nominated for a Grammy award for "Malignant Narcissism." This is their fifth nomination. Here's the complete list of Category 19, Best Rock Instrumental Performance:

Category 19
Best Rock Instrumental Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, without vocals. Includes Rock, Hard Rock and Metal. Singles or Tracks only.)

The Ecstasy Of Gold
Metallica
Track from: We All Love Ennio Morricone
[Sony Classical]
Malignant Narcissism
Rush
Track from: Snakes & Arrows
[Anthem/Atlantic]
Always With Me, Always With You
Joe Satriani
Track from: Satriani Live!
[Epic/Red Ink]
Once Upon A Time In The West
Bruce Springsteen
Track from: We All Love Ennio Morricone
[Sony Classical]
The Attitude Song
Steve Vai
Track from: Sound Theories Vol. I & II
[Epic/Red Ink]

Neil's motorcycle will join a new exhibit at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. The exhibit is called "MotoStars: Celebrities + Motorcycles."

Neil Peart wins 5 Drummie 2007 awards, including "Drummer of the Year"

2007-10-03T15:31:00.000-07:00

Note: This story was released on several web sites last week, but there's still no official word on the DRUM! magazine website. Evidently the official announcement will happen in the November 2007 issue of DRUM! magazine (on sale around October 7, 2007). I'll update this post when the official results are announced.

According to Huliq.com, Rushisaband.com, and several other sources, Neil Peart has won five "Drummie" awards for 2007, including "Drummer of the Year." The Drummie award is conducted by DRUM! magazine.

The awards include:

2007 Drummer of the Year
Progressive Rock Drummer
Live Performer
DVD: Anatomy Of A Drum Solo
Drumming Album: Snakes & Arrows by Rush

Congratulations, Neil, and all the other drummers who won Drummies.