This past Sunday, October 28, Alex Lifeson took part in the 11th annual Scott Medlock-Robby Krieger Golf Classic's All-Star Concert to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at the Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu, California. Lifeson performed Rush's "Freewill," "The Spirit Of Radio," and "Limelight" with the help of Chicago's Jason Scheff on bass and vocals. Longtime friends Scott Medlock and Robby Krieger (THE DOORS) organized the event to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It has become one of the largest, single event fundraisers of the year for the hospital. Thanks to generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. You can watch each of the performances via the embedded vie

Music Life Magazine recently posted a lengthy interview with long-time Anthem Records and Ole music advisor Andy Curran where, among many topics, the upcoming release of Rush's 40th Anniversary Edition of Hemispheres was discussed: For Farewell, we had some younger artists contribute versions of songs for that album, including Big Wreck, Billy Talent and Foo Fighters. But this time we wanted to do something different, so we dug deep into the archives over here at Anthem and were able to come up with a really cool live concert almost in its entirety from the Pink Pop Festival in 1979. In terms of a choice of rarities, this was a recording where if you searched diligently you might have been able to find bits and pieces of it online from people who had recorded it. We worked closely with the Pink Pop Festival and a radio station and television station in the Netherlands that broadcasted it and got the full show. Which was really cool, because Elvis Costello was on the bill, and so

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Rush's progressive powehouse Hemispheres . In celebration of the anniversary, as well as the upcoming release of the 40th Anniversary Box Set of the album, Rolling Stone magazine recently sat down with Geddy Lee to discuss the making of Hemispheres , his upcoming Big Beautiful Book of Bass , what's in store for the future, and more. The article, which was posted to the Rolling Stone website earlier today, is titled Geddy Lee on Rush’s Prog-Rock Opus ‘Hemispheres’: ‘We Had to Raise Our Game’ . On the writing and recording of Hemispheres , Geddy had this to say: You’d gained some commercial momentum in 1978 after “Closer to the Heart” made a dent on the U.K. charts, but Hemispheres is one of the least accessible Rush albums ever. Did you have any initial ideas of striking while the iron was hot and making something more easily digestible? Not really. We were not really practical thinkers. We never knew what was going to

Update: Alex's painting sold for an amazing $12,111 CAD ! As he has done numerous times before, Alex Lifeson has created a unique painting for the Kidney Foundation of Canada's annual Brush of Hope charity auction. This years painting, which Alex humorously titled " Self Portrait #2 ," is currently being auctioned off on Ebay.Ca at this LINK , and it's already off to a quick start, with bids already surpassing the CAD $2,112 mark :-) The auction ends on October 24th. To see a larger version of Alex's painting, click HERE . About the Brush of Hope Charity auction: Alex Lifeson, Don Cherry, Brent Butt, John Tavares, Barenaked Ladies, Alan Doyle, Mike Myers, John Meyer and Leonard Cohen are just a few of the celebrities who have taken up a brush to create an original masterpiece to help the millions of Canadians who are living with kidney disease or are at risk. Thanks to the generous support of our partners and the community, since 2006, A Brush of H

Update: Thanks to YOUR hard work, 2112 has won the public vote! Congratulations, Rush! Though it was released over four decades ago, Rush's seminal concept album 2112 continues to elicit praise and respect. Case in point is the album's recent inclusion in the 2018 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize . From the Polaris Prize website: The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize honours Canadian albums of the past from four distinct time periods: 1960-75, 1976-85, 1986-95 and 1996-05. Like the Polaris Music Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are albums of the highest artistic quality, without regards to sales or affiliations. Think of the Heritage Prize as our version of a hall of fame where we try to determine who would have won the Polaris Music Prize in the years before Polaris existed. How it works is a select group of Canadian music media and historians gather together each year to create a vote-curated list of 10 Short List-nominated albums per era. T

No, this isn't a continuation of the 2016 April Fools Joke . According to an announcement from Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart, Clockwork Lives , their follow-up novel to Clockwork Angels has been optioned for television and/or film. From the announcement : Stoke the fires on the big steel wheels! Exciting news, so keep your fingers crossed that this moves forward. Here’s the official announcement: Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart have optioned their steampunk fantasy adventure CLOCKWORK LIVES to writer/producers Benjamin Raab & Deric A. Hughes (Arrow, The Flash, Warehouse 13). CLOCKWORK LIVES is set in the universe of the concept album CLOCKWORK ANGELS by legendary rock band Rush and Anderson’s New York Times bestselling novel of the same title. Anderson and Rush drummer and lyricist Peart wrote CLOCKWORK LIVES as a companion to ANGELS in a novel published by ECW Press and a new graphic novel from Insight Editions. When asked why Clockwork Angels wasn't similarl

Over the last two years, Rush has released special 40th Anniversary editions of both 2112 and A Farewell to Kings . With 2018 marking the 40th anniversary of Hemispheres, many fans have been anxiously awaiting news of a special 40th Anniversary release of Rush's progressive masterpiece. “Hemispheres was one of our most challenging and demanding records to make,” says Alex Lifeson. “From its inception in a Wales farmhouse where it was written over a 4 week span,” Lifeson continues, “to the very difficult mixing sessions in two London recording studios, it stands as a key transitional album in Rush’s long recording history.” Today, the wait is finally over. Pre-order links as well as cover-art for the 40th Anniversary Edition of Hemisphere's have begun to appear on Amazon: Super Deluxe Edition - 2 CD / 1 BD / 3 LP 2 CD 3 LP MP3s Amazon is also citing a November 16th release date. The track list for the 2 CD's appears to be this: Disc 1 1. Cygnus X-1 (Book II

Pan Rocks , the steel drum orchestra founded by heavy metal drummer turned internationally recognized steelpannist Tracy Thornton, just announced an exciting new Rush tribute project that will feature long-time Rush fan Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater fame. From the announcement: STEEL DRUM ORCHESTRA TAPS MIKE PORTNOY FOR TRIBUTE TO "RUSH" Steel Drum Orchestra, “Pan Rocks”, lead by founder Tracy Thornton, is set to return to the studio this Fall to record a tribute to RUSH. It was announced this week that drummer Mike Portnoy (Sons of Apollo, Winery Dogs) will handle drumming duties for the recording project. "I am excited to take part in this unique musical experience unlike anything I have done in my career...and it is always an honor to pay tribute to one of my biggest inspirations, my hero and friend, Neil Peart", adds Portnoy. Bass and guitar will be announced in the coming weeks. Pan Rocks is a 50 piece steel drum orchestra founded by drummer Tracy T

The Rush Backstage Club has just announced that they will be offering very special Luxe and Ultra-Limited-Edition versions of Geddy Lee's upcoming Big Beautiful Book of Bass . From the announcement: Ultra Limited Edition Exclusive $950 This leather-bound, 408-page hardcover book is hand numbered and limited to 250 copies, and signed by Geddy Lee. The book comes in a customized slipcase, which is exclusive to the limited editions. The book comes enclosed in a custom BBBofB silver tolex briefcase, reminiscent of certain guitar cases. Immaculately printed and bound, this will be a handsome addition to coffee tables across the world. Luxe Limited Edition $450 This Luxe Edition leather-bound, 408-page hardcover book is hand numbered and limited to 900 copies, and signed by Geddy Lee. The edition also comes in a customized slipcase, which is exclusive to the limited editions. Immaculately printed and bound, this will be a handsome addition to coffee tables around the world. Ad