Rush stars ALEX LIFESON and GEDDY LEE felt sure the band was over for good when drummer NEIL PEART quit after losing his daughter and wife in the same year.

The double tragedies not only led to Peart leaving the group, they devastated his bandmates too.

Lifeson says, "I had no interest in it (music) anymore. I couldn't play guitar. I couldn't even listen to music for a year."

Peart told his bandmates of his will to retire and took off on a soul-searching motorbike journey across America, which he has since chronicled in the book Ghost Rider: Travels on The Healing Road.

During his adventure, Peart met his current wife Carrie Nuttall, who guitarist Lifeson credits with helping get the Canadian supergroup back together in 2000.

He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I think that she was key in making him realise that he was a very unique talent and that it would be a pity to lose that."

Lee adds, "Some conversation started coming around that he wouldn't mind getting together with us to have a talk, so we got together and we talked and thought, `Well, it's not the worst thing in the world to see if we can make some music again.'"

Rush have since regained their crown as one of the biggest rock bands in North America.