Alex Lifeson claims drummers “bombarded” Rush with audition requests “minutes” after Neil Peart’s death
Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has revealed that after the death of their drummer, Neil Peart, the band were sent a litany of emails from fans who wished to audition for his role in the group.
Peart died in January 2020 after a battle with brain cancer, and while there has never been an official word on whether the band will ever reunite with a new drummer, there were plenty of die-hard Rush fans who believed they would be able to fill the vacancy left by the late member.
Lifeson has long maintained that he and bassist and vocalist Geddy Lee will never reunite with a new drummer, though Lee has never ruled the idea out and has always appeared open to reforming the prog rock group.
In a recent interview with Q104.3 Radio in New York, Lifeson revealed that he and Lee are regularly quizzed by fans as to whether Rush will ever perform again, and stated that “we’re bombarded by it all the time,” referring to inquiries about replacing Peart on drums.
He continued: “After Neil passed, it didn’t take more than a few minutes before we started getting e-mails from all kinds of drummers who wanted to audition for the band, thinking that we were just gonna replace somebody that we played with for 40 years who wrote all the lyrics for our music. I don’t know what some of these people were thinking.”
Speaking on his relationship with Lee, Lifeson confirmed that “Ged is my best friend,” and that they still speak daily and regularly have dinner and play tennis together while also collaborating on charity work. “I have a deep loving relationship with this man,” he continued, “and it’s not all about creating something that we did from the past. You never know what life brings you.”
Lifeson’s current band, Envy of None, release their new album, Stygian Wavz, on March 28th via Kscope. This follows the release of their self-titled debut album, released in 2022, and an EP that followed in 2023.
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