Original Rush Drummer Dies

Jason Ward of Q107 Classic Rock reports that John Rutsey, a founding member of Toronto rock band Rush, passed away this weekend according to Rush management company Anthem Entertainment. He was 55.

Rutsey was famous for playing on Rush's 1974 debut album, including the song "In The Mood", before deciding to leave the group due to health concerns. Rutsey suffered from diabetes and was unable to go on extended tours with the group.

Rutsey was replaced by dummer Neil Peart, which marked a turning point in the band’s sound towards progressive rock.

Read more at Q107 Classic Rock.

Comments

[Mootallica]

Aw, that is really sad.

He was pretty young too, only 55.

R.I.P.

[RickGardiner]

Wow that sucks, he was young, RIP

[recliner33]

Yeah this is sad news. I'm a big rush fan and I love Neil Peart to death, but this guy was a great drummer as well. Rush's first album is one of my favourites and he did a great job on working man.

[ironBLSmaiden]

yea i feel bad for him. i like neil peart a little better john rutsey he was really good also

[Obie]

r.i.p.

[Dethdrummer]

We'll remember the first album was Rutsey ALWAYS. But whats with the picture of Neil at the top?

[Lewis55]

Isn't that Neil Peart in the picture?!

RIP

[ezlntrooper]

Man that's sad. I love their debut album, Working Man will always be my favorite Rush song.

RIP

[jaymrock741]

Music has lost another great musician

[Brendan.Clace]

wtf....why is there a pic of Peart with the name John Rutsey overlay? that gives a horrible impression

[jakeslick]

This is sad. I guess Alex and him stayed good friends afterwards. I wonder if they will have to postpone any tour dates.

Yeah, and seriously, wtf is up with the picture of Neil Peart up there?

[ripdime04]

reallly ****ing suks, too bad another legend of rock left us, rip brother

[duncang]

RIP

[Lin]

Shame, I always thought the band lost something when he left.

[jonnyharris1]

RIP, at a quite young age too
rush for life

[sakura'sdarkest]

Shame, a great shame. But still...

DONT SCARE ME LIKE THAT UG!

RIP John Rutsey.

[thbeekk]

Hollly shit when I saw Neil Peart's picture I almost had a heart attack!!


RIP John

[aeroj06]

Idiots... they could have at least put his picture instead of Neil Pearts

[Zakk_Wylde_91]

R.I.P.

[sowhat360]

Lewis55 wrote:

Isn't that Neil Peart in the picture?!

RIP

yes it is

[Soundwash22]

Too Young! Shame we never got to hear what he was fully capable of, only got 1 album from him.

R.I.P Bro! \m/

[TJ1991]

Why's there a pic of Neil?! When I clicked the headline then saw that pic I nearly shat myself. Still, RIP.

[Sonic Blast]

that picture bugs me.

but RIP John Rutsey. You were great!

[LegsOnEarth]

yeah i freaked out.
get the damn images right..

RIP

[Pizza The Hut]

This is sad news. I hope people will recognize John's greatness on the RUSH debut more now. He has been overshadowed by Peart which is a shame really because he is the reason RUSH got off the ground in the first place because of his freindship with Alex. I'm going to go play the debut in honor of him.

R.I.P. John Rutsey, you were a great man.

[nym2000]

RIP John Rutsey

does the guy who puts pictures in articles for UG have any brain cells?

[terrencemaddox]

RIP

His drumming on their debut album was very good.

[Sly Taco]

wow, nice pic UG....

[metalcameron89]

RIP

[teh_Beatles]

RIP mate.

[Tele Echoes]

stupid ug...get your photos right. -100

[ultimo101]

Disrespect from UG. (Wrong picture)

RIP good sir

[XHAIL]

This only proves that UG has no handle on the music world at all by putting Peart's picture on there.

RIP

[-MetalUpYourAss]

my dads gonna be so disapointed

yeah whats with the picture?

[Harry Krishner]

Will somebody here at UG find a picture of John Rutsey. Show some professionalism for christ sake!

RIP John.

[i_am_metalhead]

Not a huge Rush fan but its always sad when anyone in the music industry dies.

RIP

[This1GoesTo11]

The first Rush album is a classic rock gem. "Working Man" and "In the Mood" will always be considered Rush standards. Thanks for the contribuiton, John. Now someone get Neil's picture off here before I throw up all over my computer.

[DopeDanny]

RIP
it always sucks to hear a good musician gone,gone in the pages of history,gone but never forgotten...

checked.

[Tyler Durden]

very sad indeed

[Captain Chaos]

The guy in the pic is Neil. Fix it!!

[GNRjungle87]

wow i got scared that was neil peart...THANKS UG FOR SCREWING UP THE PICTURE

[Jackolas]

Fix the picture it's very disrespectful otherwise.

RIP!

[FlamingYouth]

respect

RIP

[creativeboner]

Um.. that's Neil Peart in the picture. I guess UG is outsourcing their work to India.

[David_Bowie=GOD]

He did great on the first album, and he was about on the same level as Neil Peart as far as skill goes. Still though, I about passed out when I saw neils photo.

R.I.P. John Rutsey

[megadethdefying]

this needs to be removed or altered - you cannot have peart's picture there.

rest in peace rutsey

[Rocker_94]

That's sad. Rest in Peace.

[punk_mike_88]

I love how John died yet there's a picture of Neil. :P
Rest in peace Rutsey, you're a legend.

[terrencemaddox]

This1GoesTo11 wrote:

The first Rush album is a classic rock gem. "Working Man" and "In the Mood" will always be considered Rush standards. Thanks for the contribuiton, John. Now someone get Neil's picture off here before I throw up all over my computer.

YES to all (even though I'd like to include "Finding My Way").

[Armagedn]

That was close... I thought Neil had died for a second...

That's still bad, though. He was a good musician.

[TDAJGuitarist]

At a glance I thought it said "Rush Drummer Dies" and I nearly threw up....

Very releaved that it wasnt Neil...But thats still horrable.

RIP Rutsey

[the_extremist00]

(ts neil in the pic ! fix that ¬¬)

rip man, the music you played will never die

[MTVget0FFtheAIR]

wow it's a wrong picture, big deal, don't get your panties in a bunch. it's not his ****ing gravestone.

RIP

[Circle]

*feels sad*

RIP

[Walkin'Basser]

FUCK!!! I misread it as "Rush drummer dies".
Holy shit, I thought it was Neil.

Anyway, RIP. I love their debut. Probably not one of my favorite albums by them, but still awesome IMO.

[TheSoupDragon]

MTVget0FFtheAIR wrote:

wow it's a wrong picture, big deal, don't get your panties in a bunch. it's not his ****ing gravestone.

RIP

It's still somewhat disrespectful and careless of UG.

RIP.
Working Man is always gonna be one of my favourite Rush songs.

[limefan913]

Shame. I love that album, and it's a shame he couldn't stay with the band.

[rush4life]

He played on a great album, and it will always be one of my favourite Rush albums.

[Sylvanus]

I almost had a heart attack when I read that title and saw that picture.

This guy was an amazing drummer, it's still a shame that he died. Whoever or whatever created diabetes and other diseases for that matter should be shot.

R.I.P.

[Kaervek]

WORKING MAN

[gitarzero89]

RIP John.

[RUSTDOGG666]

I'm sure this was a complete mistake that UG put the wrong picture for John. But really someone needs to watch what they're doing cause when it comes to announcing band changes, albums, tours, other band member pics don't really matter in that case. but when your talking about someone passing away to some it can seem disrespectful. but yeah RIP john. not a huge fan of rush here but there are some songs that stood out that i really liked that they wrote.

[Alex101]

R.I.P. John. Your legacy on Rush's first album will live on. "Working Man" is an awesome track off that record.

Oh, and for UG's information, that picture in this article is actually of Neil Peart, not John Rutsey.

[peaceonearth52]

i was about to state the picture error before noticing all the comments.

nevermind

anyway, john was part of the "seed" of rush. great band. great music

[wolfgang102]

why is neil's photo captioned as John Rutsey?

RIP

[The Spoon]

Aww RIP

[sassafras roots]

why is there a picture of neil peart that has a caption for john rutsy..? they f'd up

[sassafras roots]

rutsey* spelling errors..woops

[rocnroll4evr93]

MTVget0FFtheAIR :
wow it's a wrong picture, big deal, don't get your panties in a bunch. it's not his ****ing gravestone.

RIP

+1. it's disrespectful, BUT ONLY 1 PERSON HAS TO SAY IT TO MAKE THAT POINT CLEAR!!

[xDEADMANx]

Yeah but think about it. These are "rock journalists" with a story worthy of a headline but not proper photo research? I think G. Lee himself would be horified to see this...

[Slaytanic1993]

Damn, he was a great drummer, and more than likely a great person.

[RIP_bonham]

wow that scared me...
i didnt know there was someone before neal, and i forgot neal's name so i was like omg NO!

but wow thats really sad...
R.I.P. my good man!

[scottroweso]

he died three days ago according to wiki...

[aprescott_27]

That gave me a massive heart attack until I remembered that Neil Peart isn't Rush's original drummer.

All the same, RIP John Rutsey.

[closertofreewil]

Dethdrummer wrote:

We'll remember the first album was Rutsey ALWAYS. But whats with the picture of Neil at the top?

Ya haha

But Rush has always been my favorite band and their debut was great, a sad loss this is.


JUNE 28!!!!

[GrandeAcure]

That's pretty careless and disrespectful, to put up a picture of Neil Peart instead.

[(sic)kid]

Lmao, why is it Neil's picture? He ain't dead.

[HH_Emo_666]

rip

[Metalcredge]

John Rutsey did a great job on the first album, RIP.

[Mistaa Man]

He was young. 55 is not old really. Rest in Peace

[kd420]

Yeah, im sure Rush would STILL be awesome if John stayed. There werent hard feelings when he left either, it was a personal choice that he had to make. RIP for sure, an amazing drummer, only made one album with them and look at all the amazing stuff he squeezed into it! Im sure the band are missing him, time to put on some "Afterimage"...

[recliner33]

MTVget0FFtheAIR wrote:

wow it's a wrong picture, big deal, don't get your panties in a bunch. it's not his ****ing gravestone.

RIP

Yeah but how would you feel if someone you knew like a family member or something passed away and your local newspaper did an article on their death and they post the wrong picture of them? Idk about you, but I would be pissed. Sure this was probably a honest mistake but it is still disrespectful. Plus UG can go back and change the picture if they wanted, but they still haven't. Because of this more people here are talking about how the wrong picture was posted instead of John's death.

[DefDefiance]

Yeah its always sad when someone who left an impression on music passes away.

R.I.P.

[The Shadow]

Well that sucks.....he may have only recorded one album with the band, but he laid the groundwork for many, many years of great music to come.

Still, my heart did miss a beat or two (probably in 7/8 time as well) when I saw that a Rush drummer had died.....Neil Peart is the best there is, in my opinion.

But obviously drumming skills have no relevance when it comes to someone passing away, so R.I.P. John Rutsey.

[patrickdenneyto]

dude i have the record Rush and rutsey was a really good drummer
rush is my favorite band and im proud to say it
RIP John Rutsey

[Dugihilation]

RIP

[mdawg24]

Nice to see that every comment has been respectful of Rutsey.

RIP

[goatgodgarota]

Lewis55 wrote:

Isn't that Neil Peart in the picture?!

RIP

Yeah it is.

[redchucktaylors]

UG, you scared me half to death!

don't do that to me! Put the correct picture up next time!

[jthm_guitarist]

Oh man Rush is probably my favorite album.
John Rutsey was such a great drummer on that, he definitely had the skills to stick with them.

Can the picture get changed? A picture of Neil Peart is in no way relevant.

[which ones pink]

Damn, UGs review section really has gone to shit.

R.I.P.

[kjlee2112]

John Rutsey's name and NP's picture. Come on, people. Research, research!

RIP JR

[knash713]

I almost shat when i saw "Rush Drummer dies" thinking it was Neil
RIP John Rutsey

[Ali-b912]

RIP

[thepusher]

Rest in pece indeed but **** my heart missed a beat when I read that and saw Neil's photo there man god I though Neil was dead lordy, but still man John Rutsey was a fantastic drummer nevertheless

[UNIe]

R.I.P.

[Big Tommy P]

What a shame, I'm not a drummer, but I did like him. Holy heart palpataion, Batman! When I saw the home page of UG, I saw "RUSH DRUMMER DIES", I missed the "ORIGINAL" at the beginning, but the picture of Neil wasn't at all helpful for my blood pressure though. Wow, I didn't even come that close to a heart attack when I saw that brown snake 30cm from my face in my parents chicken coop when I was ten.

[ProxXect]

uhh_me? [m] wrote:

checked.

No you didn't - the image is still Neil Peart.

[This1GoesTo11]

Kind of shitty that Rush hasn't paid tribute to John on their website in any way. Shame on them.

[07bevanm]

R.I.P.
A real shame, so young, and what a musician aswell

[medium mike]

Sleep well my friend

RIP

[mr_sinistah]

Big Tommy P wrote:

What a shame, I'm not a drummer, but I did like him. Holy heart palpataion, Batman! When I saw the home page of UG, I saw "RUSH DRUMMER DIES", I missed the "ORIGINAL" at the beginning, but the picture of Neil wasn't at all helpful for my blood pressure though. Wow, I didn't even come that close to a heart attack when I saw that brown snake 30cm from my face in my parents chicken coop when I was ten.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! hilarious

[KoRnyKenny]

RIP.

[thrashnmosh782]

i almost had a heart attack when i saw this....thought it was neil peart.

never heard of this guy, but its still a really shitty thing when someone dies...especially at 55

RIP

[randyaintdead82]

I love Working man, his drumming is very impressive on that track

[randyaintdead82]

R.I.P

[guitarchik13]

R.I.P John =*( wait til i tell my dad..