This week on the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, Rush's Geddy Lee drops in amid his My Effin' Life book tour to discuss his brand new memoir and a whole lot more with host Brian Hiatt.
LISTEN NOW: Rolling Stone Music Now | Geddy Lee Tells All
Throughout this new in-depth interview, podcast host Brian Hiatt touches on a wide range of topics with Rush frontman Geddy Lee, including his early artistic and musical influences, the band's experimentation with drugs and synthesizers, and much more, all in celebration of Lee's new memoir -- My Effin' Life -- and subsequent book tour which wraps on December 7 in Toronto.
During their chat, Lee explained how he's been attempting to convince Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson to get back out on the road with him, sharing some words of encouragement they both received from Paul McCartney.
Following drummer Neil Peart's passing in 2020 after a three-year battle with brain cancer, the Canadian Rock icons announced that Rush would not continue on as a band. Of course, they have taken the stage together a few times since then -- at South Park's wild 25th Anniversary concert in July of 2022 with Primus and Ween and the Foo Fighters' London tribute shows for late drummer Taylor Hawkins in September of the same year backed by drummers Omar Hakim, Dave Grohl, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith, and Tool's Danny Carey.
The Beatles' Paul McCartney was also on hand to perform at the London events, where the two musical legends and bass masters (the instrument not the fish) finally got a chance to meet thanks to an intro from Grohl. Looking back on the encounter, Geddy says Dave told him during rehearsals that Macca was going to be warming up with them next, and revealed to him earlier that he'd "never met anyone from Rush before." Astonished, Geddy told Dave, "'I’ve never met him! Bring him in, please.' And he came in. He’s just a very lovely man. A very positive person," Lee admits. "I think he was really curious because people probably had mentioned us to him."
After the tribute show, Lee says McCartney was "warm and embracing and positive,” joining him for drinks and encouraging the band to return to the road amid their "plastered” convo. "He was very emphatic,” Geddy adds, "Talking about, ‘You know what Ringo [Starr] always says: ‘It’s what we do.’"
Geddy remembers telling Paul, "'Talk to Al [Lifeson] because he’s the stubborn one.’ So, he was lecturing Al about how great it is to tour. ‘You have to do it, man. You have to get back out there, man.’ And Alex said something like, ‘I’ll do it, if you’ll be our manager.'"
"He had a point," says Lee. "That’s the way [Paul] looks at life. He’s ageless because he really, truly believes he was born to do this. That’s what you do. And you just do it. You don’t question it. And I think we all sometimes forget that."
Listen to the full Rolling Stone Music Now episode with Rush's Geddy Lee above and follow along for the biggest stories in music, hosted by Rolling Stone senior writer Brian Hiatt, featuring interviews with top artists, expert insight on new releases, breaking news from the Rolling Stone staff, and much more.
Geddy's got plenty more stories to share -- check out the remaining dates for his My Effin’ Life book tour below and grab your tickets right HERE.
GEDDY LEE - MY EFFIN’ LIFE TOUR DATES:
Tue Nov 21 – Montréal, QC – Théâtre Maisonneuve
Thu Nov 23 – Vancouver, BC – The Centre in Vancouver
Fri Nov 24 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
Sun Nov 26 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic
Tue Nov 28 – Los Angeles, CA – Orpheum Theatre
Thu Nov 30 – Denver, CO – Paramount Theatre
Sun Dec 03 – Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre
Mon Dec 04 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
Thu Dec 07 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall