Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib) is celebrating his 64th birthday today! Happy Birthday, Geddy -- and many happy returns! "Gary" was born in the small Toronto village of Willowdale. As many fans know, his given first name "Gary" transformed into "Geddy" during his high school days thanks to his mother's heavily-accented pronunciation of his name. In addition to his musical aspirations, some of Geddy's other interests include collecting fine wines and, of course, baseball. His wine collection is rumored to include some 5,000 bottles and his love of baseball is well documented. In fact back in 2013, Geddy threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the home opener for the Toronto Blue Jays - something he admittedly dreamed of doing for years. In addition to today being Geddy's birthday, it is also the 43rd anniversary of Neil Peart officially joined Rush - cementing the rock trio that would continue through today. Please join me in co

Queen, Metallica, Megadeth and Iron Maiden are just some of the star names who have donated incredible rock and roll memorabilia for the forthcoming Heavy Metal Truants auction. Heavy Metal Truants is a fund-raising collector founded by Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood and journalist Alexander Milas in association with CharityStars.com. They are currently auctioning a veritable smorgasbord of rock memorabilia and once-in-a-lifetime experiences in a massive online event. All proceeds go to three very special charities - ChildLine, Teenage Cancer Trust and Nordoff Robins Music Therapy. In addition to Queen, Metallica, Megadeth and Iron Maiden, other superstars from the rock and metal arenas have donated items to the auction. These include Pink Floyd, KISS, Thunder, Marillion, Steve Vai, The Who, Slayer, Joe Bonamassa and Opeth. The auction is live now and closes tomorrow, 27 July 2017. Among the remarkable items that feature in the auction are a Barry Novis painting of the late

Back in 2011, author Ernest Cline released his New York Times best-selling novel, Ready Player One . The sci-fi thriller immediately struck a chord with Rush fans, given than an entire section was devoted to the band and their 1976 album 2112 . From the book listing: In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines--puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win--and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. Given the success of the book

Last night, the Take Off, Eh! – Bob and Doug McKenzie Live Reunion fundraiser event for spinal research took place at the Toronto Mainstage Theatre in downtown Toronto, Ontario: Join Canada’s greatest comic stars for a once in a lifetime evening of music, comedy and special guests. Join Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, Martin Short and many more at The Second City’s iconic cabaret theatre for this one night only benefit raising funds for Spinal Cord Injury Ontario and Jake Thomas’ Road To Recovery. Geddy Lee made a surprise visit towards the end of the evening, where he joined both Moranis & Thomas on stage where they sang their early '80s hit Take Off! . A Facebook video of the performance is available below, or directly at this LINK . Fun fact: Take Off! peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts back in 1982. In contrast, the highest charting Rush single, New World Man , only reached the #22 spot. Thanks to Ed from RushIsABand for passing along the news.

Canada is currently celebrating its 150th birthday, which officially took place back on July 1st. In connection with the celebration, a new box set containing 150 Canadian songs was recently released, which included two tracks from Rush. To further celebrate the occasion, Spotify asked several Canadian artists to talk about their favorite artists, how they inspired them, and to also create a make-shift playlist of their favorite Canadian songs. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were interviewed for the segment, which can be viewed below or directly at this LINK . Thanks to RushFanForever for passing along the news.

By now, most Rush fans have likely seen the viral video " Chops Sawyer ". The YouTube video features a drumming puppet playing his sawdust heart out to Rush's Tom Sawyer , on a drum kit made of tin cans. The video has garnered over 1 million views in the 2+ years since it was posted. The musician behind the kit, Ricky Syers, recently appeared on ABC's The Gong Show to reprise his alter-ego's performance. The judges watching the Rush-playing puppet included Dana Carvey, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Anthony Anderson. Syers faired well for a portion of his performance, but was ultimately gonged by Anderson. You can watch Syers' performance below, or directly at this LINK . The entire episode is also available for steaming at this location . Thanks to Ed from RushIsABand for sharing the news.