Olivia Louise Peart is the daughter of Carrie Nuttall and the late Neil Peart, popular drummer of the band Rush. She was born in 2009, and her exact date and time of birth were kept private. Sadly, tragedy struck at an early age when her father passed away in 2020 after battling an aggressive form of brain cancer. Before her birth, Olivia had an older half-sister, Selena Taylor, from her father’s first marriage, but she passed away in 1997. Neil Peart retired from his music career in 2015 to spend more time with Olivia, and while his untimely death deprived her of a father figure, she is now in the care of her loving mother, Carrie.
Her Father, Neil Peart
Neil Peart was born in Hagersville, Ontario, Canada on September 12, 1952. He was the first child of Glen and Betty Peart and the family soon moved to St. Catharines when Neil was two years old. His father became a parts manager for Dalziel Equipment, an International Harvester farm machinery dealer. Neil’s parents bought him his first drum set when he turned thirteen and he began taking lessons as well. His stage debut happened at the school’s Christmas pageant when he was fourteen, which led to gigs with local bands such as Mumblin’ Sumpthin’ and the Majority.
The young Neil Peart left Canada at the age of eighteen to live in London as a professional musician. The Great Frog in Carnaby Street offered him the chance to succeed, but he found success difficult to come by. During this time, he was exposed to the writings of Ayn Rand, a novelist and Objectivist, which greatly influenced him. Peart returned to Canada after eighteen months and began selling tractor parts for his father. Six years after Rush’s formation, Peart returned home to concentrate on music, joining the band in mid-1974. In addition to 19 studio albums, the band released ten more that sold over a million copies in the United States. According to Billboard, the band ranks third in the list of “most consecutive gold or platinum albums by a rock band”.
In his earlier days, Peart’s style heavily reflected hard rock. He took influence from drummers like John Bonham, Keith Moon, and Ginger Baker, who were leaders on the UK rock music stage at the time. As his career progressed he drew upon jazz greats such as Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, and in 1994 established a friendship with jazz educator Freddie Gruber. This marked a shift for Peart – he began incorporating jazz and swing elements into his playing.
In addition to being Rush’s main lyricist, Peart wrote seven nonfiction books about his travels and personal experiences. His work ranged from science fiction, fantasy and philosophy, to secular, humanitarian, and libertarian themes. Moreover, Peart coauthored with Kevin J. Anderson three steampunk fantasy novels inspired by Rush’s album Clockwork Angels, as well as a dark fantasy novella titled Drumbeats – the latter being based on Peart’s trips in Africa. In December 2015 he announced his retirement from concert performances in an interview with Drumhead Magazine.
Sadly, his health issues had a great deal to do with the band ultimately deciding to disband in January 2018 according to fellow member Alex Lifeson. Prior to his passing due to glioblastoma on January 7th 2020 at age 67, Peart lived in Santa Monica California with his wife Carrie Nuttall and daughter after being ill for three years and a half.