Editing Neil Peart (section)

===Early childhood===
Peart was born on September 12, 1952, to Glen and Betty Peart and lived his early years on his family's farm in [[Hagersville, Ontario]],<ref name=Biography /> on the outskirts of [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]]. The first child of four,<ref>{{cite web|title=Neil Peart Biography, Videos & Pictures|url=http://www.drumlessons.com/drummers/neil-peart/|website=drumlessons.com|access-date=March 26, 2011|quote=Born Neil Ellwood Peart on the 12th&nbsp;of September 1952, Neil Peart would be the first of four kids his parents wound up raising.|archive-date=April 20, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420224720/http://www.drumlessons.com/drummers/neil-peart/|url-status=dead}}</ref> his brother Danny and sisters Judy and Nancy were born after the family moved to [[St. Catharines]] when Peart was two years old. At this time his father became parts manager for Dalziel Equipment, an [[International Harvester]] farm machinery dealer. In 1956 the family moved to the [[Port Dalhousie]] area of the town. Peart attended Gracefield School and later Lakeport Secondary School, and described his childhood as happy; he stated he experienced a warm family life. By early adolescence he became interested in music and acquired a [[transistor radio]], which he would use to tune into popular music stations broadcasting from Toronto, Hamilton, [[Welland]], and [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]].<ref name=Biography />

Peart's first exposure to musical training came in the form of piano lessons; he later said in his instructional video ''[[A Work in Progress (video album)|A Work in Progress]]'' that these lessons did not have much influence on him.<ref name="A Work in Progress, Worldcat DVD" /> He had a penchant for drumming on various objects around the house with a pair of chopsticks, so for his 13th birthday his parents bought him a pair of drum sticks, a practice drum, and some lessons, with the promise that if he stuck with it for a year they would buy him a kit.<ref name=Biography />

Peart fulfilled his promise and his parents bought him a drum kit for his 14th birthday; furthermore, he began taking lessons from Don George at the Peninsula Conservatory of Music.<ref name=Biography /> His stage debut took place that year at the school's Christmas pageant in St. John's Anglican Church Hall in Port Dalhousie. His next appearance was at Lakeport High School with his first group, The Eternal Triangle. This performance contained an original number titled "LSD Forever". At this show he performed his first solo.<ref name=Biography />

Peart got a job in Lakeside Park, in [[Port Dalhousie, Ontario|Port Dalhousie]] on the shores of [[Lake Ontario]], which later inspired a [[Lakeside Park (song)|song of the same name]] on the Rush album ''[[Caress of Steel]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3110|title=Lakeside Park by Rush|website=Songfacts|access-date=January 11, 2020}}</ref> He worked on the Bubble Game and Ball Toss, but his tendency to take it easy when business was slack resulted in his termination. By his late teens, Peart had played in local bands such as Mumblin' Sumpthin', and the Majority. These bands practiced in basement recreation rooms and garages and played church halls, high schools, and skating rinks in towns across [[Southern Ontario]] such as [[Mitchell, Ontario|Mitchell]], [[Seaforth, Ontario|Seaforth]], and [[Elmira, Ontario|Elmira]]. They also played in the [[Northern Ontario]] city of [[Timmins]]. Tuesday nights were filled with jam sessions at the Niagara Theatre Centre.<ref name=Biography>{{cite web|url=http://geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/9123/portboy.html|title="A Port boy's story" parts 1 & 2|author-last=Peart|author-first=Neil|editor-last=Collins|editor-first=Brian|work=St. Catharines Standard|date=June 24–25, 1994|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804153840/http://geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/9123/portboy.html|archive-date=August 4, 2009|access-date=January 11, 2020|via=GeoCities}}</ref>