Neil Peart gets the limelight in new doc celebrating late Rush drummer’s legacy

Neil Peart, the late drummer and lyricist for Rush, probably wouldn’t have been entirely comfortable with the limelight surrounding a new documentary about his life and legacy, according to his longtime bandmate.

“I think it would be a little embarrassing for him,” guitarist Alex Lifeson said at last week’s Toronto International Film Festival premiere of “Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple.”

“He didn’t like to have a lot of attention.”

But Lifeson, who played alongside Peart in Rush for more than four decades, believes the famously introverted stickman would have understood the affection behind the celebration.

“At the same time I think he would be very respectful and feel very warm about all the reaction and the comments made by all his friends,” Lifeson said.

That drummerly love is central to “No One’s Disciple,” directed by Canadian filmmakers Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen, who previously chronicled the Toronto power trio in the 2010 documentary “Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage.” The documentary hits CBC Gem on Wednesday.

A cerebral, fiercely meticulous musician who marched to the beat of his own 33-piece drum kit, Peart is widely considered one of rock’s greatest percussionists. The new film explores his story through the friends and fellow drummers who knew him, while also capturing the delicate process of Rush’s Geddy Lee and Lifeson returning to the band’s music after losing Peart.

Peart died in January 2020 at age 67 after a battle with brain cancer.

For a while afterward, Lee and Lifeson largely resisted revisiting Rush’s songs.

“They didn’t know about whether they wanted to play that music without him,” said Dunn in an interview.

“They’re such close friends and they’re so tight. I mean, a three-piece, right? You can’t have one loose leg in the stool; otherwise, it’s going to fall down.”

But the filmmakers saw that begin to change as Lee and Lifeson played together at a pair of tribute concerts in 2022 for late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, a close friend of Peart’s.

They eventually convinced the musicians to join several drummers that had known Peart personally — including the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, Tool’s Danny Carey and the Police’s Stewart Copeland — for some jam sessions of Rush songs that would become the film’s heartbeat.

At times, those accomplished drummers struggle to get their hands around Peart’s parts — a testament to the singularity of his playing.

“You could imagine Neil would be saying right now, ‘Not so easy, is it?’” McFadyen laughed.

Given Peart’s private nature, the filmmakers chose to only interview those he was close to, rather than stacking celebrity names.

“It’s a love letter, but it’s a love letter from people that knew him,” said Dunn.

Through archival interviews with Peart and old concert footage, the film recounts his early journey from St. Catharines, Ont., to England, where he aspired to become a musician only to face what he described as “anonymity and poverty,” before he returned home and joined Rush in 1974. His technical precision and intricate lyrics would help propel the band to international fame.

“He was one third of this band. We worked together, we sweated together, we failed together, we triumphed together,” Lee said at the TIFF premiere.

“He brought a huge amount of intelligence, talent, good nature and humour to our band.”

The film also delves into some of the darkest chapters of Peart’s life: the tragic loss of his daughter and wife in the late 1990s. But ultimately, the documentary is an ode to the drummer’s music and the lasting impact he had on those around him.

For Lee and Lifeson, it also became a way to pay tribute to their late friend after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented them from properly honouring him.

“They kind of put their music in a box that was like a relic of the past,” McFadyen said. “But then they realized, you know, that this is Neil. Neil wrote this music. There’s a part of him with them.”

Playing the songs again, he said, became less about replacing Peart than embracing what he had created.

“It wasn’t a betrayal, it was a celebration,” McFadyen said.

Midway through filming, Lee and Lifeson announced Rush would embark on a world tour, with German drummer Anika Nilles stepping into Peart’s throne.

Dunn and McFadyen say they were both surprised by the news. They ultimately added an epilogue featuring an interview with Nilles about carrying Peart’s legacy forward.

“It just all happened around the same time. They were like, ‘Oh, I love playing. Could we do this?’” McFadyen said.

Rush debuted Nilles in March at the Juno Awards, opening the ceremony by playing “Finding My Way” from their debut album.

“Neil is irreplaceable,’” Lee told reporters backstage after the performance.

“But music lives beyond tragedy, beyond anything that can happen in your life. One thing we’ve learned over the last 10 years is that music is still a part of us, and so to play it now with someone as young and exciting as Anika, it’s just another tribute to him.”

– With files from Diana Mussina

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2026.