“For a little while I thought it’d be good to get back out on tour. And then I thought… ‘Nah, not really’”: Alex Lifeson says he’s “not interested” in touring with Rush
“I don’t wanna sit in a hotel room for hours and hours and hours to work for a couple of hours.”
Credit: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
Alex Lifeson has said that despite briefly considering some sort of Rush reunion, one is certainly not on the cards anytime soon.
Rush called it a day after the death of their drummer Neil Peart in 2020. Over the last couple of years, both Lifeson and bassist Geddy Lee have been working on their own respective musical endeavours, but rumours have been circulating about the pair working together again, particularly after they performed at both London and LA’s Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts in 2022.
Speaking to Guitar World in its latest print issue, Lifeson says, “There’s so much stuff in the airwaves these days about Geddy and I getting back together and doing something. And I think it’s partly because of the way things went nine years ago, when we finished touring.
“We were at a high point, and we were playing really well. The show looked great. I think a lot of our fans felt, you know, why now? But we broke up the band basically for Neil. And he had valid reasons. He was tired. He couldn’t play at the level he demanded from himself. So he felt it was time. But I think that for a lot of Rush fans there wasn’t a feeling of closure. So there’s a hope that we’d get back together,” he explains.
Lifeson does share that after joining Lee for his book tour following the release of his 2023 memoir, My Effin’ Life, and after the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts, he partly considered getting back out on the road. “For a little while I thought, you know, it’d be kind of good to get back out. And then I thought… nah, not really. [Laughs] I mean, we toured for 40 years.”
He adds, “I’m not interested in going back out on tour. I don’t wanna sit in a hotel room for hours and hours and hours to work for a couple of hours. Been there, done it, loved it. But that’s in the past. So whether Ged and I get back together again and write or do anything, we’ll see. Until then, there’s plenty to work on, you know?”
And it’s true – currently, Lifeson is busy launching a range of gear under his LERXST brand. From a range of amplifiers, to the Limelight guitar and the By-Tor drive pedal, the LERXST lineup is continually expanding.
Lee has also released a documentary featuring fellow bassists Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole, Robert Trujillo of Metallica, and Les Claypool of Primus. Titled Are Bass Players Human Too?, the docuseries acts as a follow-up to his memoir. It’s available to stream on Paramount+.
Find out more about LERXST.