Rush no more: Drummer's death closes chapter
The members of Rush have confirmed that the band is done, after the death of drummer and lyricist Neil Peart last year.
“That's finished, right? That's over,” Geddy Lee told Rolling Stone.
“I still am very proud of what we did. I don't know what I will do again in music. And I'm sure (guitarist Alex Lifeson) doesn't, whether it's together, apart or whatever. But the music of Rush is always part of us.”
Lee added that there was a chance of an occasional reunion, though.
“I would never hesitate to play one of those songs in the right context,” he said. “But at the same time, you have to give respect to what the three of us with Neil did together.”
Peart died on Jan. 7, 2020, at age 67. He had been battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, for three-and-a-half years and only kept those closest to him aware of his struggle.
In the Rolling Stone interview, Lifeson admitted that Peart's death had deeply affected his musical creativity.
“I thought, you know, `One day, when I'm just sitting around s--ting my pants, I'll still want to play guitar.' And that's kind of gone now,” he said.
But for Lee, musical expression is still on the horizon. “For the longest time I didn't have any heart to play,” he said. “I still feel there's music in me and there's music in (Lifeson), but there's no hurry to do any of that.”
Formed in Toronto in 1968, Rush has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The group's 19th and final album, Clockwork Angels, came out in 2012 and won the award for rock album of the year at the 2013 Juno Awards.