RUSH Finally Makes Cover Of ROLLING STONE Magazine

Legendary Canadian rock band RUSH has finally made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

For the in-depth, career-spanning cover story, senior writer Brian Hiatt trailed the band to early tour rehearsals in Los Angeles and soundchecks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, interviewing Neil Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson about their lives and careers, from their childhoods to their '80s evolution to the recording of 2012's "Clockwork Angels".

More information is available at RollingStone.com.

RUSH kicked off its "R40 Live" 40th-anniversary tour on May 8 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The concert featured no opening act and contained a number of video vignettes created for the tour, including an animated sequence shown at the start of the show that displayed the progression of the trio throughout the years.

The "R40 Live" tour will wrap on August 1 in Los Angeles, California at the Forum.

Asked how he is feeling about the idea of retiring from the road, RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson told The Canadian Press: "I have such mixed feelings about it. In one way, I feel relief. I think that 40 years is a long time to be touring the way we tour. I really like being home with my grandkids. At 61, I don't feel there's anything we need to prove."

He continued: "I still love playing. But in [drummer] Neil's [Peart] case, for example, his job is really tough. Playing the way he does is very, very difficult on his body. He has chronic tendonitis in his arms and he's had problems with his shoulders.

"It's just getting to the point, no matter how much we love doing it, that it's much more demanding and much more difficult."

Lifeson added: "I've always hated the idea of being one of those guys who's just up there, old and barely able to move — just doing it for fear of not doing it, or not making an extra buck or whatever.

"If this is the last major tour that we do, [I want to] go out with flying colors, where everybody remembers the show they went to as the best RUSH they've [seen].

"That's a nice legacy to leave behind — rather than the worn-out shadow of something you once were."

Out now is "R40", a RUSH video box set on six Blu-ray discs or 10 DVDs. The collection includes live footage from all four decades of the band's career, including over two hours of previously unreleased material, a rare performance of "2112" in its entirety, three previously unreleased tracks from 1974, and more.