RUSH Members Mourn Original Drummer

May 21, 2008

According to The Pulse of Radio, RUSH bassist/singer Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson issued a statement over the weekend about the death of original drummer John Rutsey, who passed away last week in Toronto from diabetes at the age of 55. Lifeson and Lee wrote, "Our memories of the early years of RUSH when John was in the band are very fond to us. Those years spent in our teens dreaming of one day doing what we continue to do decades later are special. Although our paths diverged many years ago, we smile today, thinking back on those exciting times and remembering John's wonderful sense of humor and impeccable timing. He will be deeply missed by all he touched."

Rutsey's family has requested that donations be made in Rutsey's memory to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, located in Ontario.

Fans around the world have posted condolences online over Rutsey's death, with one writing, "Although you may not have known it, you were loved and respected by all RUSH fans."

Rutsey and Lifeson formed RUSH in 1968, with Lee joining a short time later. Rutsey played on the band's self-titled 1974 debut album, but left the group due to health concerns. His replacement, Neil Peart, joined the group on its second effort, "Fly By Night".

Find more on

Prev More News Next

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).