Alex Lifeson – ‘There’s No Way Rush Will Ever Exist Again’
Nearly six years removed from their final show, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has stated that "there's no way Rush will ever exist again." Citing the 2020 death of drummer Neil Peart as the reason why, Lifeson did offer some hope that he and Geddy Lee could reunite musically someday.
Lifeson was a guest on Eddie Trunk's Trunk Nation Sirius XM show, reflecting on Rush's history and giving an update on his current activities. Speaking with Trunk (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), the guitarist stated, "I know Rush fans are a unique bunch, and I love them. And certainly everything that we've done, we've always done to satisfy ourselves before anybody else, and I think Rush fans understood that and were always very supportive — very critical at times too, but always supportive. And that was the nature of our relationship with our fans — it was a really good two-way relationship."
Though there's been talk over the years of how the band might continue, Lifeson shares, "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."
That said, Lifeson reaffirmed his relationship with singer-bassist Geddy Lee remains strong. "I talk to Ged every couple of days or so," he continued. "We try to get together for dinner. That's been a more challenging thing lately. But we did get out once recently. It's great, 'cause mostly we're pals."
"If there's something that comes up in the future — an opportunity for us to do something — we'll decide over a cup of coffee what that'll be," explained Lifeson while pointing out, "But there's no urgency or there's no pre-planned thing now. He's doing whatever he's doing, I'm doing whatever I'm doing, and we keep each other informed and stuff like that, but, God, we had such a great history and did so much great stuff together, it's not really a big deal if, for the rest of our lives, we're just best friends."
He later added, "I get asked this all the time — are we gonna do this, or are we gonna do that? Who knows? All I know is we still love each other and we're still very, very good friends, and we always will be."
Rush played their final show on Aug. 1, 2015. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.