GEDDY LEE Explains RUSH's Longevity

During an appearance on yesterday's (Tuesday, June 11) edition of "Need To Know Bassist" on BBC Radio 6, Geddy Lee was asked how RUSH managed to stay together so long when a band like CREAM imploded after only a couple of years.

"You look at CREAM and you look at Ginger Baker's temperament and the personalities involved in that band, and you can kind of understand why that didn't stick together too long," Geddy replied. "Alex [Lifeson, guitar], Neil [Peart, drums] and myself are very nice Canadian boys, and we get along really, really well. And we say 'sorry' a lot, as you Brits tend to do. And we're pals — we became pals. All those years on the road bonded us in a kind of friendship that is rare to find in a rock band. And I didn't realize that at the time — I do certainly realize it now how unique it was. But it kept us caring about each other for over 40 years, and I think that went a long way to keeping us together. And there's a certain measure of irreverence that every band has to possess, and that creates your own brand of humor — every brand has its own brand of humor. And that's a saving grace, and has always been for the three of us. And the fact that we also didn't argue much about the direction of the band — we sort of [were], 'all for one, one for all' musically. So, those pieces have equated to longevity."

The RUSH bassist/vocalist, who recently released a book called "Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book Of Bass", was also asked what his "next step" will be now that his book has been completed.

"I don't know what my next step is," Geddy responded. "RUSH basically stopped touring in 2015, and although we remain pals, there's no plans to do any more RUSH projects. Alex has been doing a variety of guest spots here and there, and he's digging that. And I've been working on this book, and now I'm shamelessly promoting the book, travelling around the world. So, when this is all done and the dust settles, I'll go back and look at those hundreds of bass guitars that are staring me in the face guiltily and I'll figure out what the next step is."

RUSH has been completely inactive since completing the "R40 Live" tour nearly four years ago. Peart was battling enormous physical pain through much of the trek, including a foot infection that made it agonizing for him to even walk.

A few years ago, Lifeson told Rolling Stone that he receives injections for psoriatic arthritis. He was previously hospitalized for anemia from bleeding ulcers and suffered breathing problems.

Lifeson and Lee have repeatedly said that RUSH will never do a show unless all three musicians agree to take part. They haven't performed as RUSH without Peart since he joined the band in 1974.

For first six years of RUSH's existence, John Rutsey was behind the kit and he played on the band's self-titled debut LP.