Alex Lifeson: Drummers Reached Out About Auditioning for RUSH Minutes After Neil Peart Died

RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson says that following longtime drummer Neil Peart’s death in January 2020, the band was immediately bombarded with e-mails from drummers who wanted to audition for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame act.

In the years since Peart’s passing after a private battle with brain cancer, Lifeson has insisted that RUSH will never reunite with a new drummer, while singer-bassist Geddy Lee has seemingly been more open to the possibility of the two surviving members playing RUSH songs again in some capacity.

In a new interview with radio station Q104.3 host Jonathan Clarke, Lifeson was asked about the constant questions he gets about a possible RUSH reunion.

“We’re bombarded by it all the time,” responded the guitarist. “After Neil passed, it didn’t take more than a few minutes before we started getting e-mails from all kinds of drummers who wanted to audition for the band, thinking that we were just gonna replace somebody that we played with for 40 years who wrote all the lyrics for our music. I don’t know what some of these people were thinking.”

Lifeson said that he and Lee have discussed making music together again, adding, “So, yeah, we’ve had the conversation, because we can’t avoid it. But honestly, Ged is my best friend. I talk to him — I must talk to him every day. We get together for dinner, we play tennis, we’re doing all this charity work together. He’s my best bud, so, yeah, I go over there. He plays bass, I play guitar — yeah, we’ll play a little bit. I go over there ostensibly to play with him and we end up just sitting and drinking coffee and laughing the whole day.”

He continued, “It’s not just RUSH, RUSH, RUSH, RUSH, RUSH. I have a deep loving relationship with this man, and it’s not all about creating something that we did from the past. You never know what life brings you. Right now I’m super happy doing what I’m doing. I’m engaged with a lot of musical stuff. I love being a musician. I love playing guitar. I love playing guitar so much. It’s not just a vehicle for making a living. It’s me. It’s at the core of my essence.”

In the meantime, Lifeson is busy with his current band Envy of None, whose new album, Stygian Wavz, arrives this Friday (March 14th).

Watch Alex Lifeson’s full interview with Q104.3 below.