Rush drummer Neil Peart died from cancer last week, and while Howard Stern usually has lengthy tribute segments, Peart only got a mention during Robin Quivers’ news segment on Monday, where she revealed that Peart’s death was announced on Friday despite him really dying on Tuesday, and she also shared tributes from musicians. A famous actor discussed getting drunk with Neil Peart last week.
Howard said Jon Hein, an employee of the show, is ‘sitting Shiva.’ Sitting shiva refers to the act of sitting on low stools during times of mourning. As mentioned in the Book of Job, upon mourning, Job’s friends “sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights.” Traditionally, there are five stages of mourning in Judaism. Shiva is considered the third stage, and lasts for seven days. Robin then had Howard to play some of Peart’s greatest drumming.
Quantex posted on TheRushForum.com, “I find it strange there were no leaks in 3.5 years, and three days after the death. On FB page Renditions Fine Art, Framing, & Photography, Hugh let someone facetime with Neil after he bought a paintining. That was a couple of months ago.”
J2112YYZ responded, “It shows the high level of respect that his family, friends and others in the music industry had for Neil as a person that nothing came out about this. He wanted to deal with this in private and everyone understood and respected his wishes. It’s surprising with the way news travels today that nothing concrete about his illness leaked out but it’s certainly not impossible for that to happen if the person doesn’t want the news out there.”
Narps wrote, “This situation takes privacy to a whole new level. In these times three and half years and then three days on top of that. Amazing and commendable to be honest…”
Presto123 added, “I know that Kenny Aronoff of Mellencamp, Gil Moore of Triumph, and Mike Portnoy all knew that Neil was sick the last couple years. Kudos to them for keeping it tight to the vest. Kenny said that the family was trying to arrange for himself and Neil to have dinner about a year ago, but word came back that Neil was not feeling up to it.” Neil Peart’s daughter breaking her silence was just revealed.
