Famed entertainment photographer and video director Andrew MacNaughtan, known for his longtime relationship with Canadian legends RUSH, passed away on January 25th at the age of 48. He reportedly suffered a heart attack while in California shooting the famed prog-rock trio.

Rush drummer Neil Peart has written a lengthy tribute to MacNaughtan at his official website. An excerpt reads as follows:

"Andrew’s photographs first caught my eye in 1985, when I was assembling material for the tour book to accompany Rush’s Power Windows tour. At that time the band didn’t employ any exclusive photographers, so Pegi Cecconi at our office sent me a big pile of submissions from numerous people - mainly plastic pages of slides, in those days.

Andrew’s live shots really stood out from the rest; they were more vivid, somehow - highlighting both the drama of the rock stage and the personalities of the players. That was an unusual quality, and I chose several of his images for the book.

In later years, Andrew became the band’s near-exclusive photographer, in concert, formal portraits, and documenting our rehearsals and recording sessions. He even served (suffered) as our personal assistant for two tours, Presto and Roll the Bones. As other assistants we have employed over the years would agree - were they not bound by strict confidentiality agreements - it was not a glamorous or easy job.

Throughout that turbulent time, all of us remained friends. Though Andrew was something of a self-confessed neurotic, he had a terrific sense of humor, and like me, he could laugh himself into helplessness - especially over the antics of Alex, who Geddy and I have long described as 'the funniest man in the world.'”

Read more at Neilpeart.net.

MacNaughtan's storied portfolio can be viewed at his website.

MacNaughtan was a four-time JUNO Award winner (for Rush, OUR LADY PEACE, TOM COCHRANE and JANN ARDEN) and has worked with some of Canada’s most notable media, entertainment and music personalities.