About John Rutsey
John Howard Rutsey was a Canadian musician best known as a founding member and original drummer of Rush. He performed on the band's 1974 debut album, but left shortly after its release due to health problems which limited his ability to tour with the band. He was subsequently replaced by Neil Peart, who remained Rush's drummer for the rest of its active history until 2015, and was replaced postmortem by Anika Nilles for Rush's 2026 reunion. The band formed with Rutsey on drums, Lifeson on guitars, and Jeff Jones on vocals and bass, but after their first concert Jones left and was succeeded by Lee. Lee and Lifeson have each acknowledged that during the writing and recording sessions for the band's debut album, Rutsey was given the role of chief lyricist. Rutsey and Lifeson became close friends while attending St.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.