Neil Peart was born in Canada on September 12, 1952 . When he was 18 years of age, he journeyed to England with music on his mind. Once he got there, he quickly became forced to sell trinkets to tourist in order to support himself.
However, he did discover a book called The Fountainhead, written by Ayn Rand, while he was there. Rand's writing has influenced Peart's writing throughout his career. The most obvious influence can be heard in the lyrics of 2112. Quote by Neil taken from Modern Drummer:
"I went to England with musical motiviations and goals. But when you go out into the big world, as any adult knows, you're in for a lot of disillusionment. So while I was there I did a lot of other things to get bread into my mouth... When I came back from there, I was disillusioned basically about the music business. I decided I would be a semi-pro musician for my own entertainment, would play music that I liked to play, and wouldn't count on it to make my living. I did other jobs and worked at other things, so I wouldn't have to compromise what I have to do as a drummer."
Quite oddly, Neil Peart was in a band called Hush, before he joined Rush. Neil showed up to the audition for Rush in a beat up car carrying his drums in trash cans. After jamming for a bit, Neil was convinced that the whole audition was terrible, yet Geddy was won over by Neil and the two immediately hit it off. Alex was not so sure and Geddy had to convince him to let Neil into.....
