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DARK SECRETS: Alex lifeson | Vintage Vibes

“I walked home in the rain thinking: ‘Oh my God, I’m gonna be a plumber for the rest of my life!’” Alex Lifeson can’t forget what happened after Rush opened for the New York Dolls

The guitarist recalls an early-days Spinal Tap moment, and reveals what it might take for him to follow Geddy Lee’s lead and write a book

Louder

“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I could go back and emulate all those guitar sounds I had from those records?’” Alex Lifeson used TONEX and Fractal to recreate classic Rush tones – and he’s taking them on tour

Lifeson has become a digital modeling convert in recent years after IK Multimedia cloned his amp collection – and the results blew him away

Guitar World

“We were heavily in debt. Either we go home, and I go work for my dad as a plumbing assistant, or we just say screw everybody”: Alex Lifeson on the Rush “protest record” that saved the band – and won them their independence

How Rush at the brink led to Lifeson, Lee and Peart crafting one of their most commercially successful records

Guitar World

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"If you keep exploiting fans' trust and failing, you're not going to last very long." Rush's Geddy Lee on the nature of fandom, and how "the world's smallest symphony orchestra" kept fans invested in their musical journey for five decades

"With every shift in style we lost fans"

Louder

“Kirk Hammett gave me one of his Greenies. I’ve been having fun with that”: Alex Lifeson is taking a Metallica signature guitar on the road with him for Rush’s reunion

The gift from Kirk Hammett is about to make prog history

Guitar World

“It pissed Neil Peart off. He went back to his room and went, ‘F**k, f**k, f**k – I can’t say no to that guy!’” The one and only reason Rush’s R40 tour actually happened

The drummer had already decided to retire. But a wounded Alex Lifeson brought the only argument that made the classic line-up’s 2015 final road trip a reality

Louder

"All I want at the end of the day is for us to be Rush and to be amazing." Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee are preparing to tour again - and the only goal is to be great

In our exclusive interview, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson explain how and why the Fifty Something tour came to be

Louder

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“It was nothing to do with me! It was the other guys!” Rush’s Alex Lifeson still denies involvement in 1969 firing of Geddy Lee

Vocalist and bassist claims he’s not over his dismissal all those decades ago – and recalls it’s not the only time the guitarist helped him leave a band

Louder

“Many drummers reached out to me in the aftermath of Neil’s passing. That was most distasteful to me”: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson on the drummers that tried to force a Rush reunion on them

The band was still in mourning when they started getting offers to replace Neil Peart

Guitar World

“It was the record that changed our lives. The record that won us freedom of creative expression”: Rush frontman Geddy Lee recalls how the band's 1976 prog classic 2112 transformed their fortunes

No one at the record company was happy to hear that Rush had another concept record. But this time the prog trio stuck the landing on a sci-fi epic that changed everything

MusicRadar

“He’s not doing any of the lead work he’s known for. He came up with 10 tracks of textures and atmospheres”: His main band went on indefinite hiatus. Now this cult prog guitarist has enlisted Alex Lifeson and Peter Frampton for an all-star solo album

Tiles guitarist Chris Herin returns with Hiding in Plain Sight, a poignant, brilliant album inspired by his father's battle with dementia

Guitar World

"It wasn't quite working with the three of us. We were thinking that maybe we should continue with someone else." Alex Lifeson says he initially had doubts about new Rush drummer Anika Nilles

Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Anika Nilles are interviewed in the new issue of Classic Rock

Louder

"We talked a lot about Neil – about his view on music and drumming." New Rush drummer Anika Nilles looks back on her first rehearsal with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

Anika Nilles, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are interviewed in the new issue of Classic Rock

Louder

“You really can’t ask us what song to play. We have so many. So we just asked management, and they said 'first song, first album'”: Rush just made their live comeback with new drummer Anika Nilles by going right back to the beginning

“Also, it’s the only song we know how to play," jokes Alex Lifeson

MusicRadar

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Guitar World

“You really can't ask us what song to play. If we have to choose one song, it's almost impossible”: Rush's Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee perform with new drummer Anika Nilles for the first time at Canada's Juno Awards

The duo previewed what fans can expect from their highly-anticipated Fifty Something reunion tour, which kicks off in June

Louder

Watch Rush debut new live line-up with powerful rendition of Finding My Way at the Junos

"It's the only song we know how to play," quips Alex Lifeson as Rush open this year's Juno Awards in Canada with Finding My Way, the first song from their self-titled debut album

MusicRadar

“Electronic gear was expanding. The Fairlight was being used all over the place. All those things were going on and we wanted some of that”: Rush legend Geddy Lee on the making of the band’s groundbreaking ‘80s classic

How the trio battled cabin fever in the depths of winter in search of a sound that had more of Alex Lifeson's guitar, more cutting-edge synths, "more of everything!"

Metal Hammer

"I made my bed by leaving the band in 2010." The prog metal master who links Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold and The Beatles (but not Rush)

Mike Portnoy is one of metal's most revered drummers - and now he's back home in Dream Theater

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MusicRadar

“No one was more deserving of a life to himself than he was… We were torn, and sympathetic. At the same time, we felt we had unfinished business”: Geddy Lee on honouring Neil Peart and why he and Alex Lifeson are getting back together as Rush

Rush will to the stage once more to celebrate the life and legacy of the late, great Neil Peart. Lee explains how wellness clinics, fun jams and "unfinished business" made the "R" word easier to say

The Guardian - UK

‘Everybody wants a bestie like this guy!’ Rush on rock’s most anticipated reunion – and its greatest bromance

After drummer Neil Peart died in 2020, many thought the Canadian prog legends would never reform. As they book a mammoth global tour, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson explain how their lifelong bond drew them back together

Louder

"We’re jamming, so it’s possible..." Rush discuss the possibility of new music as they announce another Manchester show

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will tour the UK and EU, along with drummer Anike Nilles, in February, March and April 2027

Guitar World

“We played at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert with the Foo Fighters. After we finished our set, everyone was encouraging us to go back on tour”: Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee look back on the moment that sparked the idea for a Rush reunion

Rush have just announced an extension to their Fifty Something Tour, with new dates in the UK, Europe and South America

MusicRadar

“I mean, it’s a terrible position to put someone in. They would always be compared to the man”: Geddy Lee on why he and Alex Lifeson chose Jeff Beck drummer Anika Nilles to fill the late, great Neil Peart’s role in Rush reunion tour

After a tip from his tech, the Rush frontman/bassist says there was only one drummer in his mind, and Nilles nailed the material. But she's going to need a bigger kit...

Louder

“When Geddy Lee said he’d heard this drummer the other day and her name was Anika, we should have been paying more attention”: One Rush fan’s journey from the last aftershow party of 2015 to the big comeback of 2026

Prog writer Philip Wilding – who once played Neil Peart’s drums – remained in contact with Lee as a dark decade exploded into new light

MusicRadar

“We dearly hope you will come along and help us celebrate 50 years of Rush music, while giving Neil the long overdue tribute he so richly deserves”: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are bringing the Rush reunion tour to the UK, Europe and South America

The 50 Something Tour will see Rush play two epic sets culled from 40-plus tracks – tickets for the newly announced 2027 dates go on sale at 10am on 27 February

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