With the upcoming release of his memoir My Effin' Life this November, Geddy Lee has announced an 'In Conversation' tour; a series of intimate dates across the UK where he will bring his memoir to life. From the announcement: The evening promises to be an extraordinary experience, a once-in-a-life-time event. After the curtain rises, Geddy Lee will give his fans a peek into the very fabric of his life: from a deep reflection into his family and childhood, to a steep dive into the history of Rush; from the determined pursuit of music, to the personal memories of his life-long friends and band-mates Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart. Joined on stage by a special guest interviewer, Geddy Lee will be reading key passages from his forthcoming book My Effin’ Life; he will then share thoughts and stories taken from his experience. Fans will then have the chance to participate in a special Q&A, with Geddy Lee answering their questions directly. “Writing this book has meant

The inaugural Bubba Bash in 2023, dubbed as such in Neil's nickname, was a joint effort of YYNOT's Tim Starace and Neil Peart’s long time friend and security provider, Michael Mosbach. Together, they assembled an all-star lineup of Neil's friends, each generously making a special appearance. Over $100,000 was raised for Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Neil’s memory. The sold out Bubba Bash was such a triumphant event, it was the catalyst to make this an annual event. Bubba Bash 2024 will be held January 6, 2024 at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA. All of the artists from the 2023 show will be returning for encore performances with YYNOT: Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, The Winery Dogs) Frank Bello (Anthrax) Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall, Overkill) Jon Dinklage (Clockwork Angels string ensemble) Joe Bergamini (drum instructor, author) John Wesley (Vertical Horizon) Seven Antonopoulos (Opiate for the Masses) Additional artists are currently being gathered and will be announc

This past Saturday, the Marching Illini marching band of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign performed the music of Rush during their halftime show during the University's game vs. Toledo. During the roughly eight minute show, the band performed renditions of YYZ and The Spirit of Radio . Since 1868, the Marching Illini has entertained millions of fans with traditional and innovative performances that have paved a path of excellence making them known as “The Nation’s Premier College Marching Band.” In the 1920’s, John Philip Sousa called the Illinois Band the “World’s Greatest College Band.” Superlatives like this have come to be expected during the long and illustrious history of the University of Illinois Bands. The excellence of innovation continues today as the Marching Illini strives for the highest levels of musical, visual, and thoroughly entertaining performances in historic Memorial Stadium. You can watch their performance via the embedded viewer be

Alex Lifeson, one of the founding members of Rush and the band's seminal guitarist, is celebrating his 70th birthday today. It was on this date back in 1953 that Rush Guitarist Alex Lifeson (born Aleksandar Zivojinovich) came into the world in Fernie, British Columbia. As Rush fans know, Lifeson co-founded the band in the summer of 1968 along with John Rutsey, the band's original drummer. Alex was also responsible for bringing front-man Geddy Lee into the mix. While Alex is obviously best known for being the guitarist for Rush, he's also a licensed aircraft pilot, motorcycle rider, a gourmet cook, avid golfer, and an artist. Alex has also been known to dabble with a little acting now and again. Back in 2018, he appeared a couple of times on the CBC comedy-drama Crawford , which premiered on the CBC in Canada during the summer of 2019. Last April, Alex released a new musical project under the name Envy of None . He also reunited with Geddy Lee on stage last year when

Ever since 2020, and precisely on September 12th each year, RUSHfest Scotland have released tribute albums dedicated to the memory of Neil Peart. Gathering Rush tribute bands from across the globe, the first three volumes of "Tributes" have been met with critical applause throughout the Rush community. Details and pre-order links for the fourth volume, aptly titled Songs for Neil Volume 4 have now been released. As with all prior volumes, all proceeds from the sale of the tribute albums are donated to Cancer Support Scotland . The line-up for the fourth volume includes a special track, titled Masterpiece , which was written and performed by Neil's brother Danny Peart along with guitarist Brandon Dyke. Other tribute bands lending their talents to Volume 4 include Solar Federation from the U.S., the prolific Fleesh of Brazil, Scotland's Clockwork Angels , and even Ninja Sex Party who added their rendition of Madrigal to the collection. For a comp

Congratulations to Rush's frontman Geddy Lee who is celebrating his milestone 70th birthday today! Geddy (born Gary Lee (Gershon Eliezer) Weinrib) was born in the North York neighbourhood of Willowdale, Toronto. 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. Geddy began playing music in school when he was 10 or 11 and got his first acoustic guitar at 14. In school, he first played drums, trumpet and clarinet. However, learning to play instruments in school wasn't satisfying to Lee, and he took basic piano lessons independently. His interest increased dramatically after listening to some of the popular rock groups at the time. His early influences included Jack Bruce of Cream, John Entwistle of The Who, Jeff Beck, and Procol Harum. "I was mainly interested in early British progressive rock", said Lee. "

It's been nearly two years since Rush and the Henderson Brewing Company announced their collaboration to bring a Rush-branded beer to the market. The success of their first offering, a Rush Canadian Golden Ale, was followed up by several new brews including a Moving Pictures Ale, a special Belgian Ale to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Signals and, most recently, Xanabrew . The collaboration didn't end there. Henderson also has an extensive online Rush store filled with various Rush/Henderson themed merchandise. They've also annouced the opening of a Rush-themed Henderson brewery at the Toronto airport later this year. Now, Henderson is hosting a Rush Day event on Saturday, August 26th. From the announcement: Rush Day has something for everyone - Rush trivia, limited edition items, Rush memorabilia, a screening of Time Stand Still - but especially Rush Golden Ale and everything that tastes great with Rush mustard! Tickets are FREE but required so we

Foo Fighter's guitarist Chris Shiflett has just launched a new YouTube based podcast called Shred With Shifty . In the debut episode, Chris welcomes Alex Lifeson to the show. From the release: On the first episode of the new podcast series Shred With Shifty, which features host and Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett getting a front-row lesson from our favorite guitar heroes, Shiflett learns the solo from Rush’s “Limelight” with a little help from the man who wrote it, Alex Lifeson. According to Shiflett, Lifeson’s lead on the song “does exactly what a great solo should do. It’s a scene change, it’s kind of emotional, it builds, and yes, it shreds.” Shiflett recalls that in context, both “Limelight” and Moving Pictures, the 1981 Rush record that featured the track, were stylistic and structural departures from the rock ‘n’ roll fare of the day. Compared to Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, and KISS, the Canadian prog-rock trio was practically avant-garde. Lifeson joins Shifl

Alex Lifeson and Gibson have just announced the availability of a new "Ruby" Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul™ Custom Axcess. The guitar, which retails for $1,299 USD, redefines the boundaries of the classic Les Paul in an accessible, versatile package. This guitar carries all of the traditional tones that have made the Les Paul legendary, along with unprecedented levels of sonic and performance agility. The Alex Lifeson Les Paul Custom Axcess carries powerful Epiphone Ceramic Pro™ neck and ProBucker™ 3 bridge pickups with push/pull coil splitting on the volume controls, along with a Floyd Rose® 1000 Series tremolo—the world's most efficient vibrato. Along with all this, the Alex Lifeson Les Paul Custom Axcess still presents that timeless Les Paul look that has remained a classic for more than 60 years. A hardshell case is included. For more information and ordering links, please visit the official Epiphone website HERE . Comments

April's issue of PROG Magazine includes a cover feature on Rush and their upcoming release of the Signals 40th Anniversary Box set. The in-depth article, which was written by Dave Everley, also includes samples of the new artwork that Hugh Syme created for the box set. An excerpt from the article discusses how Chemistry came about: “We were touring so much that we were limited in the time we had to write for a record, so we utilised soundchecks or even days off, when Ged and I would sit down with a couple of guitars and do a little bit of writing,” says Lifeson. “But soundcheck was the best opportunity for us to throw some ideas around – we’d play a couple of songs in full, but also do a little bit of writing. I’m sure there are ancient cassettes headed up to his bandmate’s place after the Moving Pictures tour wrapped up in July 1981. He bought with him a tiny, cigarette packet-sized practice amp that he’d been given, and the pair proceeded to construct a primitive reco

Graphic artist and musician Hugh Syme, who is well known among Rush fans as the creative, illustrative genius of the band's album artwork, will be opening up a new exhibition in Los Angeles at the Musichead Gallery on Sunset Boulevard. Scheduled to run from June 1st through July 5th, the 'Imagine This' exhibition will include a selection of some of Syme’s best-known works, as well as a large assortment of iconic and unseen artworks from his portfolio. From the official announcement: 50 years, and counting, creating timeless works of art Hugh Syme is a award-winning Canadian illustrator, designer, graphic artist and musician who will open a new exhibition Hugh Syme: Imagine This in California beginning Thursday, June 1 at Musichead Gallery in Los Angeles as was announced recently on SiriusXM’s TrunkNation hosted by Eddie Trunk. The Los Angeles gallery will mark the third in a series of gallery openings for Syme, having hosted stops in Indianapolis in 2019 and Austi

Update: April 7th: Rush and Geddy Lee have announced the title, cover, and official release date of the memoir. "My Effin' Life" is now scheduled for a November 14th, 2023 release. More news coming soon. It was back in September of 2021 when we first announced that Geddy Lee was writing his memoir. From his Instagram post: So, how did I kill time during the pandemic? Little did I know that as of March 2020 I'd be locked down for over a year and a half—the longest time I'd spent in Toronto since I was nineteen and hit the Northern Ontario bar circuit with Rush. Although Nancy and I had to cancel a bunch of adventures we'd been planning, there were some shiny silver linings to be found at home: teaching my grandson the finer points of baseball and birdwatching, tending to my pups (one of whom was quite ill) and spending the evenings with my lovely better half, glass of Armagnac in hand, as we watched every European mystery show ever produced. Oh, a

At long last, Rush and the Rush Backstage Club have just announced the official release of the Signals 40th Anniversary Box Set ! At this time, only a Super-Deluxe version is available for pre-order, with an expected shipping date of April 26th. Similar to other 40th Anniversary releases, Signals includes a number of special bonus content including new artwork by Hugh Syme, printed lyric sheets hand-written by Neil Peart, posters, vinyl and CD versions of the album, and more. Unfortunately unlike other 40th anniversary releases, Signals does not contain any live content. The Super-Deluxe Edition retails for $229.98 and can be pre-ordered at this LINK . We'll have more news on this release, included other possible editions (i.e. CD-Only, Vinyl-only, etc.) as they become available. Comments

Rufus Books, a United-Kingdom based publisher, has announced a new series of called Portraits which will comprise beautiful 230mm square books, each presented in a slipcase, and will feature a range of artistes. The first book in the series is titled Portraits of Rush . From the announcement: Portraits of Rush takes us on an epic, photographic journey from the All The World’s A Stage Tour through to Exit Stage Left and the major tours in between. Featuring the photo's of legendary music photographer Fin Costello, who had total access to the band as they travelled, rehearsed, played live and recorded in the studio, Portraits of Rush is a candid, beautiful book of the Canadian trio as they became one of rock’s major bands. The images in this book have been specially prepared and processed for the black and white printing process, and will be re-produced using high quality matt coated art paper. With an introduction by John Tucker and featuring several articles on the b

On January 7th, 2020, Neil Peart, the virtuoso drummer and lyricist for Rush, died after a long and courageous battle with a rare form of brain cancer (Glioblastoma). Today, on the third anniversary of his passing, we remember Neil and the impact he had - and continues to have - on the world of music and the masses of Rush fans that span all four corners of the globe. Suddenly you were gone. From all the lives You left your mark upon... Despite his 'rock and roll' profession, Neil Peart was a very private and humble soul. He never sought out the adulation of fans or critics, but he was always appreciative of their praise, particularly when that praise came from fellow musicians. As a private man, the shock of Neil's death rocked fans to their core as virtually no one outside his 'inner circle' was even aware that he was ill. Suddenly, he was gone. While that initial shock still resonates to this day, turning our focus on the mark he left on all of us aids i

January 7th, 2023 will mark the third anniversary of the tragic death of Neil Peart. As a testament to his continued influence to fans and musicians across the globe, a charity concert will take place in his honor this Saturday. Dubbed Bubba Bash 2023 , the event was conceived by the Rush tribute band YYNOT and will take place at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. Respected as one of the premier bands to perform Rush tributes, YYNOT is also an original prog-rock band with 3 highly-acclaimed albums of their own. Having scheduled a YYNOT show on January 7th, it was a fitting occasion to honor Neil's legacy and raise donations for Glioblastoma brain tumor research at Cedars-Sinai. The very first Bubba Bash, dubbed as such in Neil's nickname, is a joint effort of YYNOT's Tim Starace and Neil Peart’s long time friend and security provider, Michael Mosbach. Together, they assembled an all-star lineup of Neil's friends,