Late Rush drummer Neil Peart's book Silver Surfers, a love letter to his boutique car collection, will come out on May 7.
Automobiles were a lifelong passion for the musician who died in 2020 following an extended battle with brain cancer.
The 96-page coffee table book is about the musician's collection of boutique cars.
The 96-page hardcover coffee table book is currently available for pre-order through Simon & Schuster and Barnes & Noble. It costs $50.
All of the cars in Peart's collection were silver with the exception of his black 1964 Shelby Cobra. That's part of the reason the drummer called them his "silver surfers."
In 2021, the collection Peart was auctioned off by Gooding & Co., which put out a press release that included an excerpt from the upcoming book.
Pearl came up with the title for his cars while driving his 1964 Aston Martin DB5 up and down the Pacific Ocean.
"It felt right to me, I guess – the idea that I was just one of the wave riders," the drummer said. "I had moved from Toronto to Los Angeles in 2000 (cherchez la femme), and in search of natural peace I often drove out that way and up into the Santa Monica Mountains. Out past Malibu to Ventura County, I’d weave along barren ridges of rock and vegetation, the ocean always on one big side…
"It just occurred to me that the color of the ocean had influenced the silver palette of the collection," he said. "What other color looks as good in a blue photo? Not black, not white – silver."
The collection began when Peart bought a 1969 Lotus Europa. It also included a Shelby Cobra 289 and a Lamborghini Miura P400 S.
Rush released a statement about the auction in 2021, as well.
"We are happy that his wish to see this book published will be fulfilled, with a release date to be announced," surviving band members Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee said. "This will certainly be a loving homage to the man and one of his true passions."
Fans can pre-order the book for $50.
The group officially called it quits in 2015. The decision was partly due to the chronic tendinitis Peart was experiencing. Lifeson was also struggling with arthritis at the time.
"I would say that’s slowly getting worse, as to be expected," the guitarist said during a recent SiriusXM interview with Eddie Trunk.
"I have psoriatic arthritis, and I’ve been dealing with it for quite a while – for almost 20 years. I’m on two biologics, so sort of like a double whammy in dealing with it. And it’s been very, very effective."
Rush broke up in 2015, due in part to guitarist Alex Lifeson's struggle with arthiritis.
But Lifeson doesn't have a negative attitude about his condition.
"Despite the side effects and all of that, it’s been a really effective regimen for me, and it’s really helped my hands," he said. "I have times where the inflammation has its own mind, and that’s when you’ll see me shaking my hands [while I am playing]. But it is what it is, and I can still get by, and I’m so used to it, I don’t really even think about it that much anymore."
The guitarist added that he has no interest in going back on the road, but he and Lee reunited when bassist went on a 2023 book tour to promote his memoir My Effin’ Life.
