Watch Mike Portnoy pay tribute to Rush’s Neil Peart… on a tiny drum kit

Mike Portnoy plays a tiny drumkit
(Image credit: Loudwire)

Mike Portnoy has paid tribute to Neil Peart by battering his way through a selection of Rush classics on a tiny children’s drum kit... and he's done it all for charity.

Portnoy is no stranger to dealing with the challenges of playing on kits made for kids, with the musician previously put through his paces on a Hello Kitty kit and a Pokemon-themed kit

Those were both set up by Loudwire, who are behind the latest video clip.

In the video below, Portnoy attempts to play YYZ, Spirit Of Radio and the 2112 Overture, with varying degrees of success, with a few technical difficulties getting in the way. He then decides to keep people guessing with a Rush ‘name that tune.’

The drum kit is now up for auction, with proceeds going to charity.

Portnoy explains: “I know we had a lot of fun, but all joking aside, losing Neil has been truly devastating and heartbreaking and I don’t want to make light out of that.

“So we’re going to auction the kit off and sign it and the proceeds for this are going to go to brain cancer research.”

Peart died last month after a three and a half year battle with brain cancer.

The new issue of Prog magazine, which is on sale now, pays tribute to Peart, with the drumming legend featuring on the front cover. Inside we look at Peart's finest musical and lyric moments and the enigma behind the public face of the man Carl Palmer called “one of the most innovative drummers in the prog world.”

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.