Rush in the 1970's. Left to right: Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart, and Geddy Lee

In late 1960's Toronto, Ontario, Canada, school mates Alex Zivojinovich (Lifeson), Gary (Geddy) Lee Weinrib, and drummer John Rutsey formed the first incarnation of Rush. They enjoyed local success gigging around town playing covers of their favorite rock and roll songs, but they could not attract the interest of established record labels. To overcome this obstacle, they started their own label, Moon Records, and released their self-titled debut album, Rush, in March 1974. John Rutsey left the band a few months later. On July 29th (Geddy's 21st birthday), a new drummer came on board. Neil Peart---last name pronounced PEERT----was a Keith Moon-inspired rock drummer from the southern Ontario town of St. Catharine's. In addition to his kick ass drumming chops, he also had kick ass lyric writing chops and, much to Alex and Geddy's relief, agreed to be the band's principal lyricist. The new lineup's revitalized, refocused energy is clearly heard on their first effort together, 1975's Fly By Night.

Neil Peart

Rush returned to the studio 18 months later for their next record, Caress of Steel. In Martin Popoff's 2004 biography, Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years Of Rush At Home And Away, Geddy describes the making of COS: "We were a young band, a little pretentious, full of ambitions, full of grand ideas, and we wanted to see if we could make some of those grand ideas happen". Much to the band's dismay, their ambitious experimentation went over like a lead brick with critics.

 

After a dismal 2 month tour (referred to in Rush's inner circle as the "Down The Tubes Tour"), the band responded to the COS backlash the best way they knew how: in the recording studio. Geddy recounted what happened next in Contents Under Pressure. "So we were pissed off. So we thought, 'You know what? We're just going to do what we do.' And we started witing 2112. And there's a lot of passion and anger on that record. And we couldn't have done that without Caress of Steel and feeling kind of alone." The 25-minute long title track, spanning the entire A side on the vinyl LP, tells the story of a young musician's futile attempts to assert his creative independence against the wishes of domineering, anti-music authority figures.

 

Rush followed up 2112 with two more science fiction/fantasy inspired concept albums, A Farewell To Kings in 1977 and Hemispheres in 1978. For Permanent Waves in 1980, however, they opted for more traditional lyrics, shorter track lengths, and toned down vocals, which meant no more rafter-raising high notes from Geddy. Permanent Waves yielded the band's first two major radio hits, Spirit of Radio and Freewill. These were strong, solid records, but Rush's runaway hit was Moving Pictures in 1981. At long last, after more than twenty years of hard work and tireless devotion to their craft, they achieved worldwide attention and respect. The power tracks from Moving Pictures were Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, Limelight, and an instrumental song, YYZ, named after the FAA transmitter code for Lester Pearson Airport in Toronto.

Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee during the recording sessions for Permanent Waves.

Between 1981 and 1997, the band kept up a steady schedule of touring and recording, as well as some individual side projects. In May, 1994, Neil produced and performed on a 2-CD compilation, Burning For Buddy: A Tribute To The Music of Buddy Rich. In 1996, Alex released a solo album, Victor, while Neil published his first autobiography, The Masked Rider: Cycling In West Africa, and an instructional drumming DVD, A Work In Progress.

 

The Test For Echo tour ran from October 1996 to July 1997. In August 1997, the Rush family met with unexpected tragedy when Neil's teenage daughter Selena was killed in a car accident. A year later, his wife Jackie succumbed to cancer, although Neil believed it wasn't so much the cancer that took her life as it was her grief-driven lack of desire to survive. Neil sought emotional and mental refuge from his own grief on the back of his BMW R1100GS motorcycle. When he left home in August 1998, he didn't know where he was going, or how long he would be gone. He just knew that he had to get on his bike and start riding. To add insult to injury, Neil's best friend and motorcycle partner Brutus was arrested and sent to jail before he could join Neil on the road. In spite of this heartwrenching setback, Neil stayed on his chosen course. During his absence, three compilation albums were released: Retrospective I: 1974-1981, Retrospective II: 1981-1987, and Different Stages: Live.

 

Neil on his motorcycle

Neil's return home in October 1999 was followed by Geddy's solo album, My Favorite Headache, in November 2000. When the band reconvened in January 2001 to begin work on a brand new album, their initial reunion was understandably awkward. Making records is intense, emotionally sensitive work. Ordinary stresses of everyday life are a part of that process, but when band members are hit with major emotional upheavals like illness, death, or lineup changes, their personal relationships with one another change, and that changes how they work together. At that point, they have two choices: try to get their old groove back, or reinvent a new one. If they decide that too much damage has been done, they go their separate ways.

 

Alex, Geddy, and Neil were now standing at that uncertain crossroads, wondering if they could pull it together or not. 14 months later, in May 2002, they gave their anxious fans a long-awaited answer to that question with Vapor Trails and a 6-month international tour. From the final show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil came a 3-disc CD set, Rush In Rio. The special edition Rush In Rio DVD featured the concert on one disc and, on the second disc, a very enlightening backstage documentary by band photographer Andrew Macnaughtan, The Boys In Brazil. In 2002, Neil published his second book, Ghost Rider: Travels On The Healing Road, a poignant documentation of his motorcycle trip following the deaths of his wife and daughter.

Vapor Trails was Rush's hard-earned rock and roll victory lap after their relentless fight for personal and professional survival. This rejuvenated confidence would be put to an inexplicable second test on New Year's Eve 2003, when Alex and his family has a violent encounter with Collier County sheriff's deputies at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Naples, Florida. As the band pursued legal resolution, they went on the road for their 30th Anniversary tour, playing sold out shows in the United States, Great Britian, and Europe over the course of 5 months. Other Rush projects from that year were Feedback, a collection of covers of 1960's rock songs, and Neil's third book, Traveling Music: The Soundtrack To My Life and Times.

Geddy's dryers and Automat vending machine from the 30th Anniversary tour

 

 

In 2005, the band took some well-earned time off, but they kept their fans busy with R30, a live concert DVD from the 30th Anniversary tour in 2004, and Anatomy of a Drum Solo, Neil's second instructional DVD. June 2006 brought Rush Replay X3, a DVD box set of classic concerts: Exit Stage Left (1981), Grace Under Pressure (1984), A Show Of Hands (1988), and a bonus CD of the Grace Under Pressure concert soundtrack.

 

Neil's eagerly awaited fourth autobiography, Roadshow: Landscape With Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle, was published in September 2006. Snakes and Arrows, the first CD of original songs since Vapor Trails, was released in May 2007, followed in June by a Snakes and Arrows Music Video Interactive Disc DVD that featured a new Andrew Macnaughtan documentary, The Game of Snakes And Arrows. The Snakes and Arrows tour spanning the U.S., Canada, and Europe ran from June to October 2007, then continued again from April to July 2008. Snakes and Arrows Live, a 2-disc CD, was released in April 2008. A DVD of the Snakes and Arrows tour was released in December, 2008. Check the official Rush website for the latest updates.

 

From the Snakes and Arrows 2008 tour book

 

Rush has built their rock and roll house on a firm foundation of uncompromising personal and professional integrity. Once the unlikeliest of musical underdogs, they are not only running with the big dogs, they ARE the big dogs! The respect they have earned from their colleagues and fans is beyond measure; they're Officers Of The Order Of Canada, for crying out loud! **wink to the guys** For Alex, Geddy, and Neil, making music isn't about awards, accolades, or bragging rights. They make music because they need to make it, and they know we need to hear it.

 

Limelight was exported from Snakes and Arrows Live

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