Glen Peart Talks About Son Neil, the Parts-Manager Turned Rock Star

As may fans know, before Neil Peart joined Rush, he assisted his father Glen as the Parts Manager for Dalziel Equipment in St. Catherines, Ontario. Glen recently sat down for a very rare interview where he looked back at that time in Neil's life, remembering the stress of making a decision to join Rush, or support his father.

From the interview:

The Day the White Corvette Came to the Dealership
Neil had joined a small local band playing only on weekends. Somehow, his reputation had gotten around.

The “White Corvette” visit to our farm equipment dealership has been documented several times. After lunch when the two men left, I could tell that Neil was really tormented. He was certainly not himself.


When we locked the door, he came and sat in my office and unloaded. The two visitors were the managers of Rush, a band from Toronto that were about to hit the big time. They had signed a contract and their first tour was arranged but their drummer had just dropped a bomb on all their plans — for health reasons, he had been told not to travel. The managers wanted Neil to audition ASAP and, if successful, to join the other two guys and start to practice — immediately!

Neil was consumed with guilt because we were just coming into our busy season and he felt he was letting me down. I finally said, “Neil, this could be the chance of your life. We have to talk this over your mother when we get home, but I feel you have to do this. It could be a dream come true and if it doesn't work out, there will still be a Parts Department that can use you!” Obviously, Mom agreed with my thoughts and the rest is history!”

You can check out the entire article HERE, as well as an accompanying article HERE.

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