Godsmack singer Sully Erna told Boston radio station WAAF that “a big part of my life ended” when he found out that Rush drummer Neil Peart passed away from brain cancer last week at the age of 67.
Erna explained, “When I got the call, man, it was like a big part of my life ended there too, because he was a tremendous influence (to me). I can't even articulate how much this guy meant to me and how big of an inspiration he was and an influence on me being a musician. He was one of the 'everything' people in my life.”
Erna, who started his career as a drummer, told us a while back that meeting Peart was a highlight of his 20-plus years as a recording artist: “Being able to meet Neil Peart a couple of times, I didn't need to meet anyone else after that. As much as I love the Steven Tylers and the Joe Perrys and the James Hetfields, you know, I quit school because of Rush. Really, that's all I did is I studied Rush, you know. I sat home and strapped on headphones and played Moving Pictures and Exit…Stage Left and Signals and all these great albums.”
The singer said he knew about Peart's illness but kept it quiet out of “respect” for the drummer's privacy. He remarked, “I knew, when they were ending the Rush tour, that he was sick. And then I knew it, even up to a year ago or so, he was in a wheelchair and he couldn't speak. And it was just becoming more and more sad to me.”
Peart's bandmates, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee, issued a statement saying that Peart had battled his cancer for three and a half years before succumbing on January 7th, which would have placed his diagnosis somewhere around mid-2016.
Godsmack is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, When Legends Rise, which was released in April 2018.