RUSH Speak To BILLBOARD Magazine: Interview Excerpts Posted Online

May 12, 2004

On the eve of RUSH's 30th anniversary tour that opens May 26 outside Nashville, the members of the group — Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart — opened up to Billboard magazine in a discussion of their three decades together. Peart, who has not given an interview in several years, responded to questions via E-mail. The following are several excerpts from that interview:

Billboard: From a musical and personal standpoint, what has helped RUSH endure for so long?

Geddy Lee: "There's some balance between our personalities that really kind of clicked. Even when things are difficult or stressful — and there have been a lot of times when things don't go exactly right — somehow when we sit down to work together, it's a nice rapport. We seem to be able to talk easily, laugh a lot; we've always had the same desires in terms of what we've wanted to do as musicians.

"I think that a common musical vision [helps], even though our tastes are different and we argue from time to time about influences and styles and whatnot. We agree on what we want to play together 95% of the time. That's a huge advantage in staying together.

Alex Lifeson: "Musically, we've always stuck to our guns, and we've compromised our music very little. We're lucky in that we've had an audience that has grown with us and stayed with us for all these years, so it didn't matter if we had radio hits or huge sales in the early days.

"On the personal side, I think we're fortunate that we've got three guys in this band that love each other very much, who enjoy each other's company, have a similar sense of humor and vision and a dream that we shared when we were younger."

Billboard: How would you like RUSH to be remembered?

Geddy Lee: "Gee, I don't know. A band of good players that did some wacky material. Just a band that worked hard at trying to create their own piece of music.

Alex Lifeson: "I think the way I saw it in our fans' eyes, how they remember us, and that was there before we did that [most recent] tour. I'm sure that with so many of our fans, they'll grow into their 60s and 70s being RUSH fans. That's amazing.

"There's something about a RUSH fan that sets them apart from anybody else. It's really their dedication and their understanding. When I read the mail that Rush fans write generally and the kind of dialogue they have with other RUSH fans, it's very impressive. We have a real thinking audience and really have a lot of respect for them. That's what it has always been with us. It has always been about the relationship."

Read more of RUSH's interview with Billboard magazine at this location.

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).