Rush’s Alex Lifeson ‘Eager’ to Reunite With Geddy Lee for More Music

Rush wrapped their touring career in 2015 and the retirement of drummer Neil Peart followed by Peart's death in 2020 seemingly concluded that chapter of the band's career. But in a new interview with Make Weird Music (seen below), guitarist Alex Lifeson reveals that he may not be done making music with fellow Rush bandmate, singer-bassist Geddy Lee.

"After we finished the last tour in 2015, I started just writing on my own and doing some stuff," Lifeson explains. "Geddy was working on his book. We talked about getting together and doing some stuff together, but it got very, very busy for him, even after he finished writing the book — taking it on the road. So we never got a chance to sit down and start working or just having some fun together."

He adds, "We still talk about it, and I'm sure we will. Of course, now with the pandemic, it's kind of wrecked things for a bit. But we're both eager to get back together and kind of get back into that thing that we've done since we were 14-years-old that we love to do. And we work really, really well together. So we'll see what happens with that."

In late 2015, Peart initially suggested that he had "retired," while Geddy Lee stated a year later that he had accepted that the band would no longer tour. In 2018, Lifeson confirmed in an interview, "We're basically done. After 41 years, we felt it was enough." However, both Lifeson and Lee had stated that they weren't ready to stop playing altogether.

Peart died on Jan. 7, 2020 after a long and private battle with brain cancer. LIfeson also spoke about Peart's death in the Make Weird Music chat below, stating, "After Neil passed, it was very difficult to get inspired or motivated to play. As you can imagine, we were very, very close. You lose anybody that's close, it's a profound thing. And I think both Geddy and I expected to be better with it. Neil was sick for three and a half years, and no one really knew about it. Well, lots of people knew about it, but it wasn't public, the information. So we thought that we would be prepared for the end when it came, and we weren't. We both really struggled with it."

The guitarist says that he just hadn't felt like playing and the Covid-19 pandemic also put a damper on his desire to play again. But he adds, "For me, that first year of grieving is the milestone, and once you get past that, I think you… I don't know. It's an anniversary that you process, and it becomes a little easier to handle."

Though no firm details are in place, the possibility of future Lifeson-Lee music is something longtime Rush fans would likely support.