“I’d rather be remembered for that legacy than returning as the top Rush tribute band,” said the guitarist
A little over a year ago, Geddy Lee told Rolling Stone that he was trying to convince Alex Lifeson to agree to a tour that would put them back on the road together for the first time since the final Rush outing in 2015. “Alex has some concerns about his health, it’s very hard for him to get his head around the idea of doing a tour,” Lee said, noting that he’d be reluctant to call it Rush without Neil Peart. “So I just keep working on him.”
In a new interview with Classic Rock, Lifeson says that he remains opposed to a tour despite his incredibly close friendship with Lee and their successful appearances at a pair of Taylor Hawkins tribute shows in 2022. “The energy was fantastic around that show, I know, and some days I wake up wanting to go out and tour again and some days I don’t,” Lifeson said. “For forty years Rush included Neil, and I don’t think putting some new version together would have the same magic.”
“After those two gigs and the months of prep Ged and I went through, I was excited by the response and to be in the dressing room again with so many fellow artists in Wembley and LA I respected and felt a kinship towards,” he continued. “But after a few weeks that wore off and it occurred to me that despite all the pain of loss, Rush went out on a high note playing as well as ever with one of our best stage shows on R40. I guess I’d rather be remembered for that legacy than returning as the top Rush tribute band.”
Lifeson and Lee live in the same Toronto neighborhood and get together for regular private jam sessions. “It’s good to jam with friends as you get older,” Lifeson said. “I need to play. Once a week I go to Ged’s – it’s in the calendar – keep my fingers moving, play Rush stuff, new jams. We do record it, but I couldn’t even begin to tell you where it’ll go.”
In the decade since Rush ended, Lifeson has devoted his creative energy to the group Envy of None. Their self-titled debut hit in 2022, and the follow-up, Stygian Wavz, arrives on March 14. Lee, meanwhile, released the coffee table book Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book of Bass in 2018. Two years ago, he published his memoir, My Effin’ Life.
