Modern Drummer Magazine
A Celebration and Tribute to the Life and Legacy of Neil Peart
Modern Drummer had been planning to bring back the world-renowned MD festival in 2020, and we were ready to put the plan into action. Then the world stopped due to COVID-19. After many discussions, we decided that instead of canceling the festival, we would change formats and produce a pay-per-view show. That would allow anyone to watch it on their TV, computer, or mobile device.
The date we chose was September 12th, which is the late/great Neil Peart’s birthday. We also decided to combine the show with a tribute to the Professor, who left us much too soon on January 7.Reaching out to drummers to appear was the next step. With everyone being such a huge fan of Neil, the lineup for our special tribute festival filled up almost instantly. We collaborated with Neil’s wife, Carrie, to donate the proceeds from the show to brain cancer research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.