Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesRush frontman Geddy Lee has been busy promoting his new book, Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book of Bass, but he also hasn’t shied away from discussing the future of the band. According to Lee, there isn’t one.
In a new Q&A with The Canadian Press, the 65-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer reiterates what he said in other recent interviews: The Canadian trio is likely done for good as a unit.
“[Drummer] Neil Peart is retired,” Lee maintains. “Will we perform as Neil, [guitarist] Alex [Lifeson] and Geddy on tour ever? Probably not. Will we record together? Probably not.”
Geddy does point out that he and Lifeson haven’t retired and probably will continue to make music, either together or individually.
As for why Rush didn’t label its 2015 40th anniversary trek a farewell tour, Lee notes, “I don’t think in our heart of hearts we believed it was the end — even though it did turn out to be the end. Maybe we would’ve served our fans better if we had just accepted the reality that yeah, this is going to be our last tour, and tell everybody. But they sort of had that sense, and they came out because of it anyway.”
Geddy says since the group wasn’t sure the trek would be its last, “I wasn’t really interested in capitalizing on something that may not be true, so it seemed to me much hipper to just to go out and play.”
Regarding his book, a 400-page tome featuring glossy photos of his 250-plus-bass collection, Geddy says he wanted draw more attention to an often-overlooked instrument.
“Bass guitars needed to be as well-represented as electric guitars are,” he declares. “I felt a bit of a mission to do that.”
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