Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson pay tribute to Neil Peart at documentary premiere. "There's a whole side of him that a lot of you don't really know"
Neil Peart: No One's Disciple premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, in Canada
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have paid tribute to Neil Peart at the premiere of a new documentary about the late Rush drummer. The pair were joined onstage by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith at the premiere of Neil Peart: No One's Disciple at the Toronto International Film Festival.
"Tonight you’re gonna see a very interesting look at this guy that you think you know," Lee told the audience at the Princess of Wales Theatre. "And you’re gonna see the depth of his musical legacy, and you’re gonna learn about friendship and how it runs both ways between the people he loved in the drum community and how they loved him back, which is really cool, and the wider circle of friends and what impact he had on their lives.
"So I’m very grateful that this moment has arrived where this stuff can be shared. So, thank you for coming."
"I’ll just echo what Ged said," added Lifeson. "He encapsulated everything about the film, what an amazing person was. There’s a whole side of him that a lot of you don’t really know. He was very, very funny. He was a sweet friend, and he was extremely loyal. And hopefully you’ll get to see a little more of that. And it’s certainly reflected in Chad and the other guys that played with us."
Directed by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, the team behind 2010's acclaimed Rush documentary Beyond The Lighted Stage, as well as Iron Maiden: Flight 666 and the Metal Evolution documentary series, the film will air on Canada's CBC network on September 23 as part of the series The Passionate Eye.
The film includes interviews with Lee and Lifeson, and features the pair performing Rush classics with Chad Smith, Stewart Copeland (The Police), Danny Carey (Tool) and Gavin Harrison (King Crimson, Porcupine Tree).
Rush are currently on the much-celebrated Fifty Something tour, with Anika Nilles taking Peart's place behind the kit. Full dates below.
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Rush: Fifty Something tour dates 2026
Sep 19: Cleveland Rocket Arena, OH
Sep 23: San Antonio Frost Bank Center, TX
Sep 25: San Antonio Frost Bank Center, TX
Oct 01: Houston Toyota Center, TX
Oct 05: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Oct 07: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Oct 10: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Oct 12: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Oct 15: San Jose SAP Center, CA
Oct 17: San Jose SAP Center, CA
Oct 21: St. Louis Enterprise Center, MO
Oct 23: Cincinatti Heritage Bank Center, OH
Oct 25: Washington Capital One Arena, D.C.
Oct 27: Washington Capital One Arena, D.C.
Oct 30: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Nov 01: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Nov 05: Hollywood Hard Rock Live, FL
Nov 07: Hollywood Hard Rock Live, FL
Nov 09: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Nov 11: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL
Nov 15: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA
Nov 20: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Nov 22: Charlotte Spectrum Center, NC
Nov 25: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Nov 27: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Dec 01: Glendale Desert Diamond Arena, AZ
Dec 03: Glendale Desert Diamond Arena, AZ
Dec 10: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Dec 12: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Dec 15: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Dec 17: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Rush: Fifty Something tour dates 2027
Jan 15: Buenos Aires Movistar Arena, Argentina
Jan 22: Curitiba Arena da Baixada, Brazil
Jan 24: São Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Jan 26: São Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Jan 30: Rio de Janeiro Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos. Brazil
Feb 01: Belo Horizonte Estádio Mineirão, Brazil
Feb 04: Brasília Arena BRB Mané Garrincha, Brazil
Feb 19: Paris La Défense Arena, France
Feb 21: Berlin Uber Arena, Germany
Feb 23: Amstersam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Feb 25: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Feb 28: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
Mar 02: Hamburg Barclays Arena, Germany
Mar 04: Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Germany
Mar 08: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Mar 10: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Mar 12: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Mar 14: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Mar 16: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 18: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 21: London O2 Arena, UK
Mar 27: Kraków Arena Kraków, Poland
Mar 30: Milan Unipol Dome, Italy
Apr 01: Basel St. Jakobshalle Basel, Switzerland
Apr 04: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Apr 06: Oslo Unity Arena, Norway
Apr 08: Stockholm Avicii Arena, Sweden
Apr 10: Helsinki Veikkaus Arena, Finland
Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. He once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, has flown on the Goodyear Blimp, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.
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