Why Rush’s Neil Peart Turned Down a Godsmack Tune

Neil Peart was as soon as requested by Godsmack singer Sully Erna if he would play on one of many band’s songs. He politely declined, however he had an excellent clarification for it.

Talking with Revolver, Erna recalled asking the Rush drummer, whose 2002 ebook Ghost Rider: Travels on the Therapeutic Street had straight impressed Erma to jot down a tune known as “Serenity.” As luck would have it, Rush was taking part in in Miami across the identical time Godsmack was recording their third album, Faceless, at Standards Studios. “Neil’s assistant reached out to my assistant on the time,” Erna recalled. “He is like, ‘Hey, we’re on the town. We all know you guys are followers of the band, and Sully at all times talks about Neil and he’d like to have you ever guys on the present.”

After they met, Erna confirmed Peart the lyrics to “Serenity” and requested if he is perhaps all for taking part in drums on the observe. However Peart gently turned it down. “He stated, ‘You will see someday while you’re nicely into your 50s that while you’re on break, you are on break. And as soon as that is achieved, I’ll be taking a while off,'” Erna stated. “And now I get it as a result of I am in my 50s.”

The 2 musicians went on to take care of a friendship that lasted till Peart died in 2020.

Watch Godsmack’s ‘Serenity’ Video

“Once I bought the decision, it was like a giant a part of my life ended there, too, as a result of, you already know, he was an amazing affect,” Erna stated on the time. “I can not even articulate how a lot this man meant to me, and the way massive of an inspiration he was and an affect on me being a musician. He was one of many every little thing folks in my life.”