Rush's Lee and Lifeson give $785,000 to finish Neil Peart memorial fund

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have donated $785,000 to build a memorial for their Rush bandmate Neil Peart, taking a public campaign in Ontario past its $1-million target.

The surviving members of Rush gave the money to the Neil Peart Commemorative Task Force fundraising sub-committee, the group leading the project in St. Catharines, Ontario Billboard. The cheque was presented after the band's hometown shows at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on 13 August. Those concerts formed part of the Fifty Something tour.

Part of the donation came from the road. Rush set aside a share of proceeds from VIP tickets on the Fifty Something tour for the memorial. Lee also gave $1 from every ticket sold on his My Effin Life memoir book tour to the same cause.

The campaign began in 2020 to honour Peart in Lakeside Park in St. Catharines. The park inspired Rush's song 'Lakeside Park' on the band's 1975 album Caress of Steel. Peart, the band's drummer and lyricist, died in 2020 after a battle with brain cancer.

It has been a slow build. The pavilion in Lakeside Park was renamed the Neil Peart Pavilion in September 2024. A city document in January 2026 recorded $208,812 raised to that point, with $161,649 received and $47,163 pledged. Fans also gave through online donations, while fan group RushBackstage contributed funds and organisers offered sponsorship tiers, including a Steel Level at $5,000 and a Wood Level at $500.

The design has now been finalised. Morgan MacDonald of the Newfoundland Bronze Foundry was selected to create the memorial, to sit alongside the Neil Peart Pavilion Billboard. The concept calls for two larger-than-life bronze sculptures of Peart linked by a pathway. The memorial park is officially slated to open in late 2027.

For fans, this means the wait has an end date. The money is in place. The work in Lakeside Park can move forward.