Surviving Rush members Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee have offered the strongest hint yet that they could tour again.
The band ended after the 2015 retirement and 2020 death of drummer Neil Peart, which appeared to rule out the chances of a return. However, in recent months, both Lifeson and Lee touched on the idea of working together again, and Lee recently revealed that they’d made arrangements to start writing songs again.
Lee was asked during the latest edition of CBS News’ Sunday Morning show if they’d consider an idea: “Let’s go get one of the great drummers and tour again.” He replied: “Have we talked about it? Yeah. … It’s not impossible – but, at this point, I can’t guarantee it.”
READ MORE: Top 10 Neil Peart Rush Songs
Later in the interview, when asked about the band’s “next chapter,” Lifeson stated: “It’s difficult to figure out what that chapter is without [Peart]” but added: “It’s just not in our D.N.A. to stop.”
More philosophically, Lee said: “Do what you believe, because if you do what someone else believes and you fail, you got nothing. If you do what you believe and you fail, you still have hope.”
Geddy Lee Says Rush 2.0 Was A Different Band
Lee also looked back on Rush’s five-year hiatus that began with the 1997 death of Peart’s daughter, saying they came back as a completely different group. “We walked out on stage as three people who were really thankful that we had a second chance to do this,” he said. “Rush 2.0 was a different band. More appreciative, looser. … We just started saying ‘yes’ to things we’d normally say ‘no’ to” – including an appearance on South Park.
As for Rush’s lack of success on the singles charts, Lee admitted: “We used to sometimes say, ‘Wow, that’s a catchy tune we just wrote. If somebody else played it, it might be a single. But if we play it, for sure it’ll fuck up!’”
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It’s all the more surprising when you consider the success so many of them had by any other measure.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
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