Mike Portnoy spoke with radio host Eddie Trunk about the sad death of Neil Peart , drummer for Rush . This was the first time Peart's longtime friend had spoken about the matter, after having paid tribute to him on social media.
Peart passed away last Thursday, the 9th. The news only became public on Friday with an announcement from Rush stating that the 67-year-old musician had died after a three-and-a-half-year battle with brain cancer.
SiriusXM 's Trunk Nation program was dedicated to Peart and featured Portnoy as one of the guests. The drummer also commented on his relationship with Peart and revealed that he knew about the illness: "He kept his personal life away from the press, and that's why nobody publicly knew about the cancer. I can't imagine the shock it was for the fans when he died."
When asked about his last contact with Peart, he said: “I saved all the emails he ever sent me and yesterday I spent the whole night rereading them and crying. Yesterday was a difficult day, it really affected me.”
“The last email I received from him was over a year ago. He sent me a Christmas photo of himself wearing a Santa hat and some pictures of his daughter, Olivia. He always sent me pictures of himself dressed as Santa or reading a book.”
He continued: “I am very grateful and feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to have such a relationship with him, because I know that few people have had that. It was an honor to have had this relationship for the last 15 years.”
Another guest on the show was Nick Raskulinecz , producer of Rush's last two albums, Snakes & Arrows (2007) and Clockwork Angels (2012). Eddie Trunk posted a clip of the interview on Twitter in which Nick talks about what it was like working with Peart for the first time. Listen to the audio below.