Alex Lifeson Talks Recent Rush Jam Sessions with Geddy Lee

Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee have been getting together to jam and play Rush songs, which is likely wonderful news for Rush fans.

Lifeson told Ultimate Classic Rock that he and Lee have been getting together weekly to jam. In his typical sense of humor, Lifeson noted, "We just picked some Rush songs and we started playing them and we sound like a really, really bad Rush tribute band."

He added, "By the way, Rush songs are hard, so our fingers are getting limber and our calluses are building up again."

In December 2023, the surviving Rush members appeared on CBS Sunday Morning when the inevitable question of being a band without late drummer Neil Peart was broached. Lee said, "It's not impossible, but at this point, I can't guarantee it." Lifeson added, "It's just not in our DNA to stop."

At the time of Neil Peart's death in 2020, it seemed unthinkable for Rush to find a way to go on. However, it seems like it's an option that's not completely off the table.

While promoting his memoir, My Effin' Life, Lee touched on this in multiple interviews. In particular, Lee told The Washington Post how Paul McCartney told the surviving Rush members to hit the road again at an after-party for the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert.

Lee said, "It had been a taboo subject, and playing those songs again with a third person was the elephant in the room, and that kind of disappeared."

He added, "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."

Lee then shared in an interview with Long Island Weekly about possibly making new music with Lifeson. He touched on finding some leftover songs from his 2000 solo album, My Favourite Headache, how much fun he has in the recording studio and that he has some ideas he wants to "flesh out on my own."

"So, of course, my lifelong buddy and bandmate Alex and I would like to get back into the studio together and see what might happen," said Lee. " ... Once I finish all this crazy crap that I agreed to do — the book tour and the TV show and find some space for myself — I'd certainly like to start playing something."

Few bands have enjoyed legendary decades-spanning career like Rush. Fewer still have been able to take their final bow on their own terms. Once Rush reached arena-headlining status, they never had to "downsize," or even go on package tours. They rarely played multi-act festivals and towards the end of their career, even stopped using opening acts on their tours, so that they could play longer shows. They also were always able to play a lot of new music at their shows, and fans responded. They've had classic songs on every album, starting with their self-titled debut in 1974, up through their final album, 2012's Clockwork Angels. Of course, that made it difficult to narrow down this list to just 50 songs -- and of course so many of you will disagree with the songs we included, the songs we didn't include, and the order. That's part of the fun of lists, though.