Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson on the drummers who tried to force a Rush reunion
Prog giants Rush are set to hit the highway for the first time since Neil Peart’s passing subsequent month, with former Jeff Beck drummer Anika Nilles sitting in for the Professor. But whereas the band was nonetheless in mourning after his dying, Geddy Lee says some drummers had been already Peart’s place.
The band had retired in 2015 after the R40 tour, with Peart’s deteriorating well being the major motive for his or her curtain name. Peart handed away 5 years later, with most assuming that Rush, concurrently, had been no extra.
That has, after all, come not to be the case. Nilles was beneficial to the band by a tech who frolicked on the highway with Jeff Beck’s 2022 tour, and Lee and Lifeson ultimately approached her. However, they notice another gamers had been tactless of their method.
However, he provides that “there were many other drummers who reached out to me in the aftermath of Neil’s passing that were pushing themselves, and that was most distant to me. It was completely inappropriate timing.”
“We didn’t really know where to start to look,” Lee says. “We started with Anika because she had been recommended to me, and I had done some research on her. I loved her vibe and diverse style.
“We didn’t have a list,” he adds. “When Al and I lastly mentioned, ‘Okay, I assume we’re getting critical. Who’s going to sit in that not possible seat? It’s daunting. We began with the title that was already on my thoughts.’
“We called her up, she came, and we hit it off. She brought a lot to the table, but more than her chops, more than her guts, and her willingness to sit in that hot seat, she brought an intelligence and a story.”
Born into a household of musicians, Lee says the 42-year-old, born between the Rush’s ninth and tenth albums, “doesn’t even remember the first time she picked up sticks,” somewhat, “It’s who she is.” Her relative freshness, he provides, has been very important in Rush’s second coming.
They soft-launched their comeback at the Juno Awards in late March. Their full-fledged return is going on subsequent month at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, on June 7, the place they performed their remaining present with Peart 11 years in the past.
Rush are the cowl stars of the new situation of Guitar World. Print and digital copies might be ordered from Magazines Direct.
