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RUSH bassist/vocalist
Geddy Lee will be honored with a solo Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday, September 11 at the
Artists For Peace And Justice (
APJ) gala in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Lee is being recognized for his "commitment to philanthropy," including his support of brain cancer research,
Toronto Food Bank,
Alberta Floods,
Doctors Without Borders,
Grapes For Humanity,
United Way,
Canadian Museum For Human Rights and
Casey House.
The
APJ is a nonprofit organization that encourages peace and social justice and addresses issues of poverty around the world.
Over the course of their five-decade-long career, the members of
RUSH have thrown their support behind a wide variety of worthy causes often privately and sometimes publicly. From their earliest shows at Toronto's historic Maple Leaf Gardens, the band started working with the
Toronto Food Bank to encourage fans to bring food for those in need. Eventually deciding to do their first charity concert at Maple Leaf Gardens to benefit the
United Way in the early '80s, and an
amFAR show to benefit AIDS research in the early '90s, engaging themselves and their fans in positive pursuits naturally became part of the
RUSH ethos.
As dedicated advocates of human rights, in 2008
RUSH donated $100,000 from a Winnipeg concert's gate to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. In the same year, on their
"Snakes & Arrows Tour", the band donated $100,000 from their show in New Orleans to
Brad Pitt's
Make It Right Foundation to assist in the revitalization of the city post Hurricane Katrina, and sponsor the construction of a house in The Lower Ninth Ward dubbed "The House That Rush Built".
From their 2010
"Time Machine" tour onwards,
RUSH donated $1 from every concert ticket sold to various charities including
Doctors Without Borders. In 2013, the band performed an incredibly successful benefit concert at Red Deer's Enmax Centrium with all proceeds going to the
Canadian Red Cross to help victims of the flooding that devastated many regions of southern Alberta. The event raised more than $575,000 and was one of the largest donations made to the
Alberta Flood Relief.
RUSH has also been a passionate supporter of
Little Kids Rock, a national non-profit organization that works to restore and revitalize music education programs in disadvantaged U.S. public schools. In efforts to provide percussion instruments to schools, the group created a premium Neil Peart Paragon Cymbal Pack, each of which came with a free splash cymbal personalized, autographed and dated by the
RUSH drummer himself. This cause-based marketing initiative went on to raise over $50,000 for
Little Kids Rock. Working with their endorsement companies, they set up partnerships for their signature items which have seen many positive charitable efforts such as
Neil Peart with
DW,
Sabian and
ProMark, where one campaign raised over $60,000 for
Child Advocates.
Alex Lifeson donated royalties from his signature
Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess guitar to the
Domenic Troiano Foundation for guitar music scholarships.
The bandmembers also donated their time, funds and awareness through their personal interests and events. An avid baseball fan,
Geddy Lee donated close to 400 baseballs signed by former
Negro League baseball players from his personal collection to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City in 2008.
Alex Lifeson is a supporter of
Casey House as well as
The Kidney Foundation to which he donates his paintings that led to almost $300,000 in funds raised. During the band's South American tour in 2010,
Peart was moved by the rescue of the trapped miners in Chile. When he wrote a story about his experiences touring in South America, he rallied
RUSH fans and his readers to make a $1 donation for his story.
Neil matched their donations, and together they raised $10,000 for the
Chilean Red Cross.
RUSH was inducted into the
Canadian Music Hall Of Fame in 1994, made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1996 and inducted into the
Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2010. They have received a star on both Canada's
Walk of Fame (1999) and
Hollywood Walk Of Fame (2010).
RUSH received the highest artistic honor in Canada by winning the
Governor General's Performing Arts Award in 2012 and was inducted into the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013.