How Neil Peart Changed Lifestyle after Tragic Loss of His Daughter

In a recent interview, Godsmack frontman and rhythm guitarist Sully Erna spoke fondly of meeting Rush drummer Neil Peart.

Erna looked up to Neil, and their talk provided insight into his hopes for a musical career in his olden years. According to an interview published by Revolver, however, the conversation really began with Erna requesting Neil to perform on Godsmack’s “Serenity,” a song dedicated to Peart.

At the time of the touching encounter between Peart and Erna, Erna made sure to tell Peart how much he respected and admired his work. Neil was kind and respectful, and they had a nice conversation about music. Sully used the chance to give Peart the words to the song “Serenity” and to invite Peart to perform drums on the track. Peart, though, said no.

“I get to meet Neil Peart,” the musician revealed. “I gave him the lyrics to ‘Serenity’ and even asked if he’d be interested in playing the drum track on that song, although he politely declined. He said, ‘You’ll see one day when you’re well into your 50s that when you’re on break, you’re on break. And once this is done, I’m going to be taking some time off.’”

The “break” that Peart referred to was when he took a sabbatical from being in the limelight after his daughter’s tragic passing from an accident back in 1997, which was then followed by the tragic passing of his wife of 23 years, in 1998. Peart took a lot of time to mourn and reflect, penning several Rush songs along the way. Erna’s polite appeal didn’t sway him to pursue a new musical endeavor and public persona around this time, with Erna being fine with it since his declination had nothing to do with the singer personally.

“And now I get it because I’m in my 50s. But it still allowed me to establish a relationship with him, and over the years, I got to know him really well and hung out with him a few times.”