Geddy Lee Says He and Alex Lifeson Could Perform as Rush Again

Geddy Lee said he’d be open to performing with former bandmate Alex Lifeson again as Rush. The band called it quits in 2020, after the January death that year of drummer Neil Peart.

Singer and bassist Lee and guitarist Lifeson said they wouldn’t continue following the death of Peart, who joined the Canadian trio in 1974. But now Lee, in a new interview with The Washington Post, said he’d consider working with Lifeson again under the Rush name.

The decision was made after the pair reunited onstage at last year’s Taylor Hawkins tribute shows in London and Los Angeles. The former bandmates played Rush songs with Tool‘s Danny Carey, Omar Hakim and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith for the late Foo Fighters member. That band’s leader, Dave Grohl, also joined Lee and Lifeson onstage.

READ MORE: How ‘Moving Pictures’ Became Rush’s Leanest, Most Song-Focused LP

“It had been a taboo subject, and playing those songs again with a third person was the elephant in the room, and that kind of disappeared,” 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.”

Are Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson Going to Perform as Rush Again?

The idea was planted in Lee’s head by Paul McCartney, who congratulated Lee and Lifeson at the Hawkins tribute after-party and said they should go back on the road.

Following their September 2022 stage reunion, Lee noted that he and Lifeson got together in the studio for the first time in years and jammed.

Lee, who’s about to start a book tour for his new memoir, My Effin’ Life, said Lifeson was “excited as offers rolled in after the Hawkins shows,” but the guitarist had surgery in July for stomach problems.

“He needs to feel good and feel healthy and strong,” Lee said of any plans for the pair. “And then maybe we have a discussion.”

READ MORE: Revisiting Rush’s ‘Counterparts’

The two former bandmates played together for the first time onstage since the death of Peart at the two Hawkins tribute shows. They performed three Rush songs: “2112: Overture,” “Working Man” and “YYZ.”

Since Rush broke up, Lifeson started a new band, Envy of None, while Lee has kept busy on his book as well as with other projects. Rush also released a pinball game last year.