The organizers of RushCon, the largest North American gathering of fans celebrating the music of Rush, will be returning once again this year for another convention in the band's home town of Toronto. From the official announcement: Hello Rush Fans! You didn’t SERIOUSLY think we would go a whole year without a con? We know summer is going fast (and the nights are growing colder), so we decided to throw RushCon 16 in the golden light of autumn. We hope to see you all this November 3rd - 5th, 2016, In Toronto, Canada. (Yep, that’s Thursday through Saturday this time.) We have a huge, major event to announce, along with some fun new things! All details will be announced over the next couple weeks. But now would be a good time to ask for time off, get your Rush shirts out of the attic, and prepare to have the best weekend of your life this November. Stay tuned! For more information, please visit the official RushCon website .

John Tory, the mayor of the City of Toronto, has just announced that both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will be awarded the keys to the city of Toronto in a ceremony scheduled for this Saturday. From a story posted in the Toronto Sun : Two of the most successful musicians in ‘YYZ’ history will bask in the ‘Limelight’ this weekend, as Mayor John Tory presents them with the key to the city. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, founding members of rock band Rush, will receive the honour during a special ceremony on Saturday. The duo, who were both born and raised in Toronto, will also have a park in Willowdale named after them at the event honouring their achievements over 40 years in the music industry. “Rush’s sound, famous across the world, has helped shape Toronto’s own musical identity, which always has been and continues to be a unique hybrid of styles and influences,” Tory’s spokesman, Amanda Galbraith, said in a statement to the Toronto Sun Wednesday. “Very few bands can claim to have

Today marks the 64th birthday of Rush drummer and lyricist extraordinaire Neil Peart. Neil (born Neil Ellwood Peart) came into the world on September 12th in 1952 Hamilton, Ontario. He grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario, Canada (now part of St. Catharines) working the occasional odd job including the role of a Parts Manager for his father Tractor Supply company. His true ambition, however, was to become a professional musician. During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band and dropped out of high school to pursue a career as a full-time drummer. He had a short stint with J.R. Flood back in 1970, before he decided to move abroad to further his musical studies. However, after a discouraging stint in England, Peart returned home where he joined a local Toronto band called Rush in the summer of 1974. And the rest, as they say, is history. Join me in wishing Neil a very Happy Birthday - and many happy returns.

It was back in July of 2014 when we first brought you the news about a proposed arts-themed park, located in the Toronto neighborhood of Willowdale, that would be named after Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. The Lee Lifeson Arts Park , as it came to be known, has been under construction throughout 2016, and is now open to the public. A formal inaugural launch of the park is now set for October 1st, according to the most recent issue of the City of Toronto's Celebrate Toronto newsletter : On October 1 from 1 to 5 pm, join Cultural Hotspot and North York Arts at the kick-off to the inaugural season of the Lee Lifeson Art Park in Willowdale. Create a community arts piece, join an Aztec dance workshop lead by performer Jesus Mora and fellow dancers, and watch the Live Arts Youth Showcase, featuring spoken word, music and dance. Visit toronto.ca/culturalhotspot for information. Back when the plans for the park were first announced, Geddy Lee spoke to the Toronto Star , where he had thi

Martin Popoff, the author behind the 2004 Rush biography Contents Under Pressure as well as 2013's Rush: The Illustrated History , will be publishing his third Rush-inspired book in May of 2017. Rush: Album by Album , which will be published by Voyageur Press, will include reviews of each of Rush's 20 studio albums by 20 rock journalists. From the book's description: Formed in Toronto in 1968, the rock trio Rush has gone on to multiplatinum success behind the distinctive high register and virtuosic bass-playing of frontman Geddy Lee, the legendary drumming and lyric-writing of Neil Peart, and the guitar heroics of Alex Lifeson. Despite having just four chart-topping singles since the release of their debut LP in 1974, Rush has nonetheless sold more than 25 million albums in the U.S. and more than 40 million worldwide. Indeed, the Canadian trio may be the definition of an "album band," and this new book from prolific rock journalist and acknowledged Rush author