Geddy Lee has said he would be open to a Rush reunion with bandmate Alex Lifeson.
- READ MORE: Inside the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert: “A gigantic fucking night for a gigantic fucking person”
Fans assumed the band had broken up for good after the death of drummer Neil Peart in 2020, who quietly battled brain cancer for three years.
Opening up in a new interview with The Washington Post, the musician reflected on the band having a reunion of sorts at the Taylor Hawkin’s tribute concerts last year in memory of the Foo Fighters drummer.
“It had been a taboo subject,” he said of the experience. “And playing those songs again with a third person was the elephant in the room, and that kind of disappeared.”
During the tribute shows in Los Angeles and London, Lee and Lifeson played Rush songs alongside a host of musical friends including the Foo’s own Dave Grohl, Tool‘s Danny Carey, Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith and Omar Hakim.
Lee said: “It was nice to know that if we decide to go out, Alex and I, whether we went out as part of a new thing, or whether we just wanted to go out and play Rush as Rush, we could do that now.”
Following Peart’s death, Lee seemed to suggest that Rush’s touring days were definitely behind them.
“That’s finished, right? That’s over,” he told Rolling Stone early in 2021. “I still am very proud of what we did. I don’t know what I will do again in music. And I’m sure Al doesn’t, whether its together, apart, or whatever. But the music of Rush is always part of us.
“And I would never hesitate to play one of those songs in the right context. But at the same time, you have to give respect to what the three of us with Neil did together.”
In July, Lifeson reiterated this, saying there was “no way Rush will ever exist again” without Peart.
Speaking on SiriusXM’s ‘Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk’ (per Blabbermouth), the guitarist said: “I know Rush fans are a unique bunch, and I love them. It was a really good two-way relationship. But I think, really, Rush ended in 2015. There’s no way Rush will ever exist again because Neil’s not here to be a part of it.”
The post Geddy Lee teases Rush reunion appeared first on NME.
