10 Hard Rock Bands That Had To Fire Major Members
6. John Rutsey - Rush
The real heart of most of Rush's material comes down to Neil Peart. Being theprimary lyricist and one of the most technically proficient drummers of all time, Neil was always pushing this power trio towards more loftier ambitions, whether it was in song construction or in the more conceptual material. However, there was a long forgotten era when Peart wasn't behind the kit.
Starting in 1974, Rush's first incarnation was a lot different with drummer John Rutsey in the back. Though Rutsey didn't really have any major faults, his inclusion in the group was more in the vein of traditional rock and roll acts like Bad Company and Led Zeppelin than any prog rock ambitions. As time went on though, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee's interest in acts like Yes and Genesis ended up driving a wedge between them and Rutsey's rock purist tendencies.
The final straw turned up when they took to the road, where Rutsey's juvenile diabetes started to really take its toll on his health. Leaving the band for health reasons, their hunt for new drummers brought them to Peart, who made the best impression possible by playing drum roll triplets with his feet right off the bat. After a few years of working it out, the start of prog's heaviest band was now officially in place.