Neil Peart‘s sister Nancy Peart Burkholder has opened up concerning the passing of the RUSH drummer greater than three and a half years in the past, saying that she and the remainder of her household had “three and a half years to organize” for his loss of life.

Peart died on January 7, 2020 in Santa Monica, California after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive type of mind most cancers. He was 67 years previous.

RUSH introduced Peart‘s passing three days later, setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from followers and musicians all around the world.

Nancy mirrored on her brother’s loss of life in a model new interview with “Etcetera With Kelly Barrett”. Requested if she and the remainder of the household was ready for Neil‘s passing, she mentioned (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We had three and a half years to organize, so we knew it was coming. After which as soon as it occurred, we had that week of radio silence the place we could not inform anyone. After which we received — I feel we had 10 minutes discover earlier than it was going dwell to the world. So we had 10 minutes to inform everybody that we hadn’t instructed in three and a half years that, ‘Sorry, we lied. All the things’s not okay.’ So, yeah, it was a extremely laborious — that week was the toughest week that we went via as a result of we knew and could not share it.”

Kelly then requested Nancy if followers and different folks had been respectful of the household’s privateness at the moment, because the surviving members of RUSH had requested them to be in a press release asserting Neil‘s loss of life.

“Oh, our messages had been blowing up,” Nancy mentioned. “My daughter lastly turned her cellphone off. She’s additionally a musician. She’s within the [music] world. And he or she truly wrote a tune that week known as ‘Radio Silence’ as a result of we had been below radio silence. It performed at ‘A Evening For Neil’ [memorial event which was held in October 2022 at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada]. It was unimaginable. So, yeah, it was a really surreal week. However that 10 minutes was, like… I am unable to even keep in mind who I known as in that 10 minutes. Everyone I knew, properly, I needed to message them abruptly, ‘trigger we knew we had 10 minutes. After which simply as one in all my finest mates received my message, it was on the radio. After which all of them, after all, had been getting known as as a result of their households all know the connection and that — the identical factor — had 45 years with him, technically. So, yeah, it was a shock that went around the globe, that is for positive.”

Final 12 months, Peart‘s RUSH bandmate Geddy Lee revealed that the drummer wished to maintain his most cancers prognosis a secret previous to his loss of life.

“[Peart] did not need anybody to know [about his illness],” Lee mentioned on Canadian discuss present “Home Of Strombo”. “He simply did not. He wished to maintain it in the home. And we did. And that was laborious. I am unable to let you know it was straightforward, ‘trigger it was not straightforward. And it was ongoing. His prognosis was… he was given 18 months on the most, and it went on three and a half years. And in order that was a relentless circulate of us going to see him, giving him help.”

Lee went on to say that he and RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson needed to be “dishonest” to followers to be able to shield Peart‘s privateness.

“What his household needed to dwell via was actually troublesome, so it was a number of back-and-forth,” he mentioned. “And while you’re in that state, it’s totally laborious to operate usually, as a result of you’ll be able to’t discuss to anyone about it, ‘trigger nobody’s purported to know. And so folks hear rumblings and so they carry issues as much as you, and also you deflect it. And in order that feels, on one hand, it feels dishonest, however however you are being loyal to your pal. So fuck the dishonesty half. That wins.”

He continued: “I’d say that was probably the most troublesome time for us to maneuver ahead, throughout that entire factor, as a result of we had been on this bubble of grief type of strolling in direction of an inevitable and horrible conclusion.”

Elsewhere within the “Home Of Strombo” interview, Lee and fellow surviving RUSH member Alex Lifeson (guitar) expressed their disappointment in how issues basically ended for RUSH, previous to discovering out about Peart‘s most cancers prognosis.

“Let’s be sincere, it was irritating to finish once we ended,” Lee mentioned. “I used to be pissed off, as a result of I labored so laborious on that [40th-anniversary] tour when it comes to design and placing all of it collectively and the entire idea of going backwards, a chronology that exposes itself or exploits itself whereas going again in time. And so I used to be actually happy with it. I wished to take it to Europe to play for the European followers, I wished to take it to South America, and that wasn’t gonna occur.”

Lifeson added: “I assumed we had been all enjoying actually, very well, and I most likely may have continued to do one other 30 exhibits, and I feel Geddy felt the identical means. But it surely was changing into actually troublesome for Neil to play at that stage, and except he may play 100% at that stage, he actually did not wanna do any extra exhibits … And it was laborious for him — a three-hour present enjoying the best way he performed. It is a miracle that he was even in a position to play.”