The life and legacy of Neil Peart will return to the screen in Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple, a new documentary receiving its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 16, 2026. The film reunites Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson with four of rock’s most revered drummers for new performances of RUSH classics.
Directed by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, the filmmakers behind RUSH: Beyond the Lighted Stage, the 96-minute documentary will receive a public screening on September 19 before airing on Canada’s CBC on September 23 as part of The Passionate Eye.
Rather than simply revisiting the technical brilliance that made Peart a near-mythical figure among musicians, No One’s Disciple will trace his difficult beginnings as a young artist and the extraordinary rise that transformed him into the drummer, lyricist and intellectual center of one of progressive rock’s most influential bands.
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson perform RUSH classics again
The film’s most tantalizing element is the sight and sound of Lee and Lifeson returning to the RUSH catalogue. For these performances, Peart’s place behind the kit will be occupied by Stewart Copeland of The Police, Danny Carey of Tool, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree and The Pineapple Thief.
This is more than an assembly of famous names. Each drummer represents a different musical language and a distinct connection to Peart’s work. Copeland rewired rock drumming through nervous energy and reggae-derived rhythms. Carey pushed precision and rhythmic architecture into increasingly complex territory with Tool. Smith brought together power, funk and spontaneity, while Harrison became one of the defining progressive drummers of his generation.
The performances turn the documentary into a tribute built through music rather than reverence alone. Lee and Lifeson return to songs they helped create while four exceptional musicians confront the impossible task of temporarily entering a position that can never truly be filled.
Beyond the impossible technique
Peart’s technical reputation can sometimes obscure the complete musician. His enormous drum kits, shifting time signatures, precision and elaborate solos created an almost superhuman image, but No One’s Disciple will look beyond the machinery.
He joined RUSH in 1974, shortly before the recording of Fly by Night, and fundamentally changed the band’s direction. In addition to becoming its drummer, Peart took responsibility for most of its lyrics, bringing literature, philosophy, science fiction and individualism into the group’s music before gradually moving toward more personal observations.
Albums including 2112, A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures established that identity. Peart could build songs around enormous ideas while grounding their most complicated rhythmic shifts in compositions that never felt difficult merely for the sake of difficulty.
His development continued long after RUSH achieved international success. Peart studied with other teachers, revised his technique and repeatedly reconstructed his approach to the instrument. That refusal to remain static offers one interpretation of the title No One’s Disciple: he learned from different traditions without surrendering himself completely to any one of them.
The private life Peart protected until the end
The documentary arrives six years after Peart’s death. He died in Santa Monica, California, on January 7, 2020, at the age of 67, following a private battle of more than three years with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
RUSH announced his passing three days later, stunning fans and musicians around the world. Peart had asked for his diagnosis to remain known only within his closest circle.
Lee later explained that honoring that decision forced the band to deflect questions and rumors while privately supporting their friend. Any discomfort caused by that secrecy mattered less than protecting Peart and his family during an extraordinarily difficult period.
The decision reflected a boundary Peart had maintained throughout his career. Despite writing some of rock’s most recognizable lyrics and performing before stadium audiences, he never appeared particularly interested in becoming a conventional celebrity. He preferred traveling, reading and writing, maintaining a clear separation between his public work and private life.
