3.5 Years On, Neil Petart's Sister Tells The Drummer's Death

Rush (Instagram @rush)

JAKARTA - Neil Petart's younger sister, Nancy Petart Burkholder, opened up about the death of drummer Rush more than three and a half years ago.

The drummer died on January 7, 2020, after three years of battling an aggressive brain cancer called glioblastoma.

He died in Santa Monica, California at the age of 67. The band announced the death of Petart three days later.

Speaking with Kelly Barrett on his Etcetera With Kelly Barrett show, Burkholder reflected on his brother's death.

"We have three and a half years to prepare for it, so we knew it would happen," he said.

"And when that happened, we experienced radio silence for a week where we couldn't tell anyone. And then we got I think we got a notification 10 minutes before it was rolled out around the world. So we had 10 minutes to tell everyone we hadn't told anyone for three and a half years that, 'Sorry, we lied.' Everything isn't okay. So, yes, it was very difficult that week was the hardest week we've been through because we knew and couldn't share it.

When asked if fans and other people respected family privacy at the time, Burkholder replied: Oh, our message exploded. My daughter finally turned off her phone. She's also a musician. He's in the world [music]. And he actually wrote that song that week entitled 'Radio Silence' because we were under radio silence.

He continued: The song was played in 'A Night For Neil' [the commemoration ceremony held in October 2022 at the Meridian Center in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada]. That's incredible. So, yes, it was a very real week. But 10 minutes it was like... I don't even remember who I called in 10 minutes. Everyone I know, I had to message them all at once, because we knew we had 10 minutes. And when one of my friends received my message, the message was broadcast on the radio. And then all of them, of course, were called because their families were all aware of the relationship and the same thing technically it's been 45 years with him (Peart). So, yes, it was a shock that hit the whole world, that's for sure."

It was revealed last year that Zart wanted to keep his cancer diagnosis a secret before his death. Appearing on Canadian talk show, Pepart's bandmate Geddy Lee shared: [Peart] doesn't want anyone to know [about his illness]. He didn't publish it. He wanted to keep it at home. And we did. And it was difficult. I can't tell you that it's easy, because it's not easy. And it's not easy. The diagnosis is... he's given a maximum of 18 months, and it lasts for three and a half years. So, we're constantly visiting him, giving him support."

He went on to say that he and Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson should be "dishonest" to fans to protect Peart's privacy.