Although Rush‘s Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee still get together to jam on a frequent basis, the guitarist says he doesn’t foresee the group officially reforming with any other drummer than late icon Neil Peart.
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Speaking with Louder's Classic Rock, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson says he and frontman Geddy Lee have been jamming together at Lee's home in Toronto on a weekly basis, "playing Rush stuff" and working on "new jams." Though he adds the pair have been recording those sessions, "I couldn't even begin to tell you where it'll go," he admits. "It's good to jam with friends as you get older... I need to play."
Touching on 2022's Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts in London and Los Angeles where he and Lee welcomed drummers Danny Carey of Tool, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Omar Hakim, and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl behind the kit for a few numbers, Lifeson remembers, "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."
"For forty years Rush included Neil [Peart], and I don't think putting some new version together would have the same magic," he explained. Peart passed away on January 7, 2020, following a quiet battle with brain cancer.
"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 L.A. I respected and felt a kinship towards," Lifeson continues. "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."
Looking back on Rush’s farewell tour, Lifeson also told Rolling Stone recently, "The last tour I thought was a terrific tour for Rush. I thought we played really well. I thought the show was really fun. Going back in time to the beginning was a great way to celebrate the end of the band. I don't know if, at 70 years old, 10 years later, if I can play like I played back then. I haven't played that material in nine years. And if I can't play it like I played it nine years ago, then I really have no interest in doing it.”
“I think Rush has a strong legacy because of the way things ended,” he adds. “We ended on a high note, and that's the way people remember us. And I think that that also is partly the reason why so many people would love to see us back out, because that's the memory they have of us. We were dedicated to what we were doing. We practiced a lot. We were passionate. We played our hearts out. Physically, ten years later, at this stage, [after] these ten years, I don't know if we can do that. I don't know, can Ged sing like he did? Can I play guitar? Can he play bass like he did? I don't know. Unless we did a big rehearsal and tried to do all that stuff, we'll never know. But just thinking intellectually how this would work, I'm not keen on doing it, really."
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Of course, if you go by Geddy, he's singing a different tune. During a chat at the end of 2023 with Rolling Stone Music Now, Lee explained how he's been attempting to convince Lifeson to get back out on the road with him, sharing some words of encouragement they both received from Paul McCartney. After the London Taylor Hawkins tribute show at which McCartney also performed, Lee says Paul 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 added, "Talking about, ‘You know what Ringo [Starr] always says: ‘It’s what we do.’"
Geddy remembered telling Paul, "'Talk to Al [Lifeson] because he’s the stubborn one.’ 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.'"