CBC to Debut New Neil Peart Documentary This September

Documentary Details and All-Star Jam Sessions

The upcoming film, Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple, is set to explore the life story of the musician, lyricist, and author who passed away in 2020. According to the broadcaster, the documentary covers Peart’s "tough start as a young artist" followed by his "meteoric rise" to fame. The production features intimate interviews with Rush co-founders Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, alongside reflections from a crew of legendary drummers discussing his enduring influence.

A central highlight of the documentary involves Lee and Lifeson filming rehearsal-hall performances of classic songs with a rotating cast of well-known guest drummers. These performers include Stewart Copeland of The Police, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Danny Carey of Tool. While Lee and Lifeson previously performed with Smith and Carey at a Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in 2022, the filming marked their first time ever performing with Copeland, who was a longtime close friend of Peart.

In a statement, the CBC described Peart as an artist who "was famous for blurring the lines between Progressive Rock, jazz, pop and heavy metal." The network characterized him as the "ultimate live performer" and an "icon, role model and mentor" to other percussionists.

Reflecting on the "God of Drums"

Peart, who retired in 2015 and died at the age of 67, was widely regarded as one of the greatest rock drummers in history. Despite this reputation, his peers noted that he viewed his status with a sense of duty rather than ego. Stewart Copeland reflected on this perspective in 2020:

"[Peart] never rated himself as highly as everyone else did. But he did very much feel the responsibility that he carried to be the God of drums. Kind of a burden, actually."

— Stewart Copeland

Archive interviews included in the documentary further illustrate Peart’s commitment to his craft. He once shared a quote from Buddy Rich regarding the nature of greatness and the constant effort required to maintain "goodness" in one's work:

"I was thinking about a Buddy Rich quote. He was asked, ‘What do you think about being the greatest drummer in the world?’ He said, ‘Ya know what, dummy’ — the way Buddy would say it — ‘you don’t achieve greatness. If you work hard at it, you achieve a certain amount of goodness and then you just try to preserve that.’ And he said, ‘I’ve never been happy with anything I’ve done but I keep trying.’ Bingo. You know?"

— Neil Peart

Peart also emphasized his personal drive to evolve, stating in an archive interview:

"I think it matters for me to play better all the time, and to play my best all the time, to keep it fresh and changing. It’s kind of my responsibility."

— Neil Peart

A Secret Battle with Cancer

Neil Peart passed away on January 7, 2020, in Santa Monica, California, following a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The diagnosis was kept strictly private at Peart's request, a decision that Geddy Lee later discussed, noting that Peart was originally given only 18 months to live but survived for three and a half years.

Lee described the difficulty of maintaining this secrecy while fans and the industry speculated about the band’s future:

"[Peart] didn't want anyone to know [about his illness]. He just didn't. He wanted to keep it in the house. And we did. And that was hard. I can't tell you it was easy, 'cause it was not easy. And it was ongoing... What his family had to live through was really difficult, so it was a lot of back-and-forth. And when you're in that state, it's very hard to function normally, because you can't talk to anybody about it, 'cause no one's supposed to know. And so people hear rumblings and they bring things up to you, and you deflect it. And so that feels, on one hand, it feels dishonest, but on the other hand you're being loyal to your friend. So fuck the dishonesty part. That wins."

— Geddy Lee

The surviving members found the period leading up to Peart's death to be an immense emotional challenge. Lee added:

"I would say that was the most difficult time for us to move forward, during that whole thing, because we were in this bubble of grief sort of walking towards an inevitable and terrible conclusion."

— Geddy Lee

The "Fifty Something" Tour

Following the announcement of the documentary and the passage of time since Peart's death, Lee and Lifeson have returned to the road for the "Fifty Something" tour. This trek features a revamped lineup, including German drummer Anika Nilles—who previously toured with Jeff Beck—and keyboardist Loren Gold, known for his work with The Who and Chicago.

The tour kicked off on June 7, 2026, at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. These "evening with" performances consist of two sets per night, with the band drawing from a catalog of approximately 40 tracks. Each concert includes multiple tributes to Peart as the band travels through Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Due to high demand, the tour length was doubled after initial dates in 2025 sold out instantly.