Alex Lifeson told The Prog Report that Rush have been approached for a reunion tour, “Well, that [being approached by concert promoters] happens all the time, and it has been consistent for 10 years. And I would say that it’s happening even more lately, and I think it’s because after COVID, everybody’s on the road and there’s excitement for live shows, people getting out. So all those old promoters are quite excited to get something from us.”
“But Geddy’s been writing quite a bit lately. He’s written four books. He’s been super busy with all of that stuff. I’m working on ENVY OF NONE, two albums, some soundtrack work, a couple of other, smaller artists that I’m producing. So I’ve been super, super, super busy.
“Ged and I get together,” Alex said. “We’re best friends, so we get together all the time. We talk to each other almost every day. We live 10 minutes from each other, like we have for the last 35 years, so we’re connected. I go over there. Sometimes we just sit around drinking coffee and laughing and talking. Sometimes we go down to his little room and play whatever — maybe some bluesy stuff or, like I said, we’ve been playing some RUSH songs for the fun of it… But that’s fun, ’cause we haven’t really played that stuff in a long time. And that’s our history.”
In recent years, both Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee have shot down any speculation that the two will reunite as Rush at some point in the future. After the death of their longtime drummer Neil Peart in 2020, they both have said it doesn’t feel right, nor would it be the same, to continue on without him. While we may never see Rush tour again, Lifeson and Lee don’t deny that they still get together regularly to play their music in private.
“We get together one day a week over at his place. We just picked some Rush songs and we started playing them and we sound like a really, really bad Rush tribute band”, Lifeson said last year in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock.
Now, while speaking to Ken Dashow of New York’s Q104.3, the guitarist was asked to clarify his comments, to which he replied:
“That was kind of the way, that way was the first little while that we got together. [Geddy’s] been an author for the last so many years. And he’s loving it. But he hasn’t been involved in music directly, whereas I did — well, particularly after Neil’s passing, with Envy of None coming along, and I really started to get into it after my period of grief.
“So, when I go over to his place and we jam, we just play stuff — we play bluesy stuff, and then we play some Rush stuff, and we laugh because we realize how hard Rush stuff is to play.”
“But, honestly, [Geddy’s] my best friend in the world and I love him dearly. And when we’re together, we spend all our time laughing. And we’re happy with that. And we understand the interest and the desire for Rush fans to see something.”
“This world is so crazy right now, and things change — never mind every day, every minute things change. So who knows what the future will bring? But as far as music’s concerned, whether it’s the past or the future, I’m in a great spot.”
