RUSH Drummer Talks Fitness In New Interview

July 23, 2011

James S. Fell of the Los Angeles Times recently spoke to legendary RUSH drummer Neil Peart about how a rocker can keep his body a skin-smashing machine after 37 years in the same rock trio giving calorie-combusting concert performances that would blow the lumbar discs and ventricles of lesser men.

"It was actually drumming that gave me the stamina to get into sports later," Peart said. "I started playing drums at 13, and when I got to the international touring level I got interested in cross-country skiing, long-distance swimming, bicycling things that require stamina, not finesse. I'm still no good at ball-and-stick games. If I go play golf with the guys, it's intended to be a joke."

He added, "Stamina is the force that drives the drumming; it's not really a sprint. The stamina aspect is great because you don't lose that with age so quickly. I know there will be a day when I just can't do it, but at 58 years of age it hasn't come yet. I can still play as fast and as powerful and as long as I ever could."

"Playing a three-hour Rush show is like running a marathon while solving equations. My mind is as busy as it can be, and so is my body; full output all the time."

"Years ago I got involved in a charity trying to help troubled kids and came up with a slogan: 'If you've got a problem, take it out on a drum.' I can't do it professionally because it's so disciplined I've got to control the band and tempos but there is such a thing as getting a kid's aggression out on a drum set."

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).