Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

EXPLAINED: 5 - The Real Truth

“Was air-drumming even a thing before Tom Sawyer?”: Neil Peart’s greatest moments with Rush

It wasn’t easy, but we’ve boiled the professor of prog’s most powerful percussive performances down to 10 key tracks

Louder

“I saw pyramids while listening to 2112 and I rode my bike as the street moved like water to YYZ”: Joseph Arthur’s first acid trip turned him on to the majesty of Rush

In an incident he doesn’t recommend emulating, the singer-songwriter’s appreciation for the Canadian giants was cemented – but that’s only one of four reasons he loves them

Louder

“We were getting more popular. It was a different level of fame. Alex and I seemed to be able to block those things out. But Neil couldn’t. He was struggling”: Why a classic Rush album spelt trouble for legendary drummer Neil Peart

“I didn’t want to be famous," Peart said. "I wanted to be good!"

MusicRadar

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

“I have the first guitar I ever owned – my parents bought it for me in 1967 for $57. It’s a cheap Japanese guitar that I had refinished”: Alex Lifeson on Envy of None’s evolution, moving on post-Rush, and jams and coffee with Geddy Lee

Stygian Wavz, the new album from Envy of None, finds Lifeson showcasing his prodigious chops again. Here he talks about the gear behind it, where he is as a player, and that huge Rush box set

Guitar World

“He’d start, ‘You’ll never guess what I dreamed last night…’ and the groaning would begin”: How Rush marshalled Alex Lifeson’s dreams to write a bona-fide prog-rock classic

A tour-de-force of instrumental prog, La Villa Strangiato is the sound of Rush at the height of their powers, and this is how the Hemispheres epic came together

MusicRadar

“Fans were tetchy about the future. When they heard these twisting rhythms and proggy sounds, all fears were allayed”: 11 great Rush songs from the 90s and beyond

The cream of the Canadian trio Rush's later years

Louder

“We opened for the New York Dolls in 1974. The crowd was excited to see them. Not so much us”: An epic interview with Rush‘s Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee about the rollercoaster career of ‘rock’s biggest cult band’

In 2015, Rush’s Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee looked back over the prog icons’ rollercoaster career

Louder

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

“Honestly, he's my best friend. Why wouldn't I wanna hang around with him?”: Rush’s Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee still meet up and jam “once a week”

But guitarist was “disappointed” with the way Rush ended

MusicRadar

“It’s not about that guy from Rush any more,” says Alex Lifeson. But with four and a half solos, it’s great to have him using those colours again on Envy Of None’s Stygian Wavz

Envy of None’s second album Stygian Wavz proves Alex Lifeson was right to work with other artists - might it make Geddy Lee consider doing the same?

Louder

“Fans can fulminate over the tracklisting – ‘Where the hell is The Fountain Of Lamenth?!’ – but it hits all the right beats”: Rush’s R50 is a luxurious celebration with an emotional punch at the end

Multi-format box set cherrypicks at least one track from every studio and live album of the Canadian giants’ career

Louder

Rush got emails "from all kinds of drummers" minutes after the death of Neil Peart

Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson recalls being sickened by tasteless messages from people who wanted to audition for Peart's seat

Louder

“It didn't take more than a few minutes before we started getting emails from all kinds of drummers”: Rush’s Alex Lifeson reveals the rush to replace Neil Peart

There’s been no shortage of offers and he and Geddy Lee are still playing together, so is a Rush reunion on the cards?

MusicRadar

"I felt sad to see such joy in Neil’s face when we were down to the last few bars of our last song we played together": A Farewell to Kings - Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson look back on 50 years of Rush

We sat down with Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson at the end of 2024 to speak about their 50-year journey from there to here - and what might happen next

Louder

“The first time I ever got high was with Alex. He was just a terrific pothead, and a terrible influence on me”: The chaotic story of Rush’s early years and their journey from high school stoners to prog icons

Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson look back their journey from high school stoners to prog icons-in-waiting

Louder

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

MusicRadar

“We always have one song, on every album, that doesn’t quite click. And we thought that Tom Sawyer was going to be the one”: How Rush finally nailed their most famous song

“We were going for this dry sound with that unique tone,” Geddy Lee said

Louder

“Amid the turmoil over the increased use of synths, there’s a perfect balance of both sides of their character”: 12 great Rush songs of the 80s

They ditched the kimonos for keyboards and pursued a new, modern sound that had fans bewitched and bewildered in equal measure. Here are some prime examples

Louder

Rush share unboxing video for new Rush 50 box set

Rush 50 celebrates the band's half-century in a variety of formats featuring seven previously unreleased tracks, out in March

Guitar World

“I rediscovered the glorious bottom-end of the Fender… I feel far more fluid playing the Jazz Bass than I ever did on the Rickenbacker”: Geddy Lee went on a tonal quest and broke all the bass rules to make Rush sound huge

The Rush frontman charts his experiments in bass tone, and why he'd sometimes tackle the instrument like a lead guitarist

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

Louder

“I’d rather be remembered for our legacy than returning as the top Rush tribute band”: Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee are jamming together – but they have no plans to resurrect Rush with a new drummer

Alex Lifeson reveals he and Geddy Lee have weekly jam session – and they record the results

Louder

"We had turned into grotesque prog creatures": How Rush reinvented themselves

After the "soul-crushing" slog of Hemispheres, Permanent Waves returned Rush to the peak of their powers and put them in a different league

Guitar World

“I need to play. Once a week I go to Ged’s – it’s in the calendar”: Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee are recording their regular jam sessions – but remain tight-lipped about what they’re using them for

The Rush legends discuss revisiting the band's repertoire – and even coming up with brand-new jams – during these sessions

BANG Premier

Rush regret final tour not being longer

The surviving members of Rush have expressed their regret that they never made it to Europe with their final tour.

Louder

"Neil would do a full hour of unrelenting drumming before he went on stage to play for another three": A personal tribute to Neil Peart

A personal look back at the music, life and times of Neil Peart, the Rush drummer/lyricist and cornerstone who died on January 7, 2020

Louder

"I really felt like I let our British and European fans down": Geddy Lee gives fans "a straight answer" about the end of Rush

Exclusive: Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are interviewed in the new issue of Classic Rock, out now

MusicRadar

"Each time I'm about to play it, I take a deep breath and I exhale on that first note": 5 songs guitarists need to hear by… Rush

Songs in the key of Lifeson

1 … 4 5 6 7

People

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Organisations

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Places

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.