Geddy Lee hints at possible Rush reunion: “We could do that now”
Geddy Lee has suggested that he would be open to a Rush reunion with guitarist Alex Lifeson, saying, “We could do that now”.
In January 2020, Rush’s longtime drummer, Neil Peart, died at the age of 67 following a three-and-a-half-year battle with brain cancer. Following the tragedy, Geddy Lee made it clear that the band, which at that point comprised of him and Alex Lifeson, simply could not go on without Peart, who was not only their drummer but their primary lyricist, too.
Lee told Rolling Stone in January 2021: “That’s finished, right? That’s over. I still am very proud of what we did. I don’t know what I will do again in music. And I’m sure Al doesn’t, whether its together, apart, or whatever. But the music of Rush is always part of us. And I would never hesitate to play one of those songs in the right context. But at the same time, you have to give respect to what the three of us with Neil did together.”
In June of that year, Lifeson told SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk: “There’s no way Rush will ever exist again because Neil’s not here to be a part of it.” However, he did say that doesn’t mean he and Lee could not work on other things.
Now, Lee has broached the subject of reviving Rush in a new interview with The Washington Post. This follows him and Lifeson linking up to play at the all-star tribute to the late Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins in 2022. “It had been a taboo subject,” Lee expressed. “And playing those songs again with a third person was the elephant in the room, and that kind of disappeared.”
Playing at both tribute shows in London and Los Angeles, Lee and Lifeson injected life into classic Rush songs alongside a cast of friends from the industry, including Dave Grohl, Danny Carey, Chad Smith and Omar Hakim. Lee explained: “It was nice to know that if we decide to go out, Alex and I, whether we went out as part of a new thing, or whether we just wanted to go out and play Rush as Rush, we could do that now.”
Watch Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson perform at the Taylor Hawkins tribute below.
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