Today marks the fifth birthday remembrance of Neil Peart since his tragic passing back in January of 2020. Though there is still a sense of surrealism at the fact that Neil is gone in body, the strength of his spirit remains as vibrant as ever. Neil Ellwood Peart was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and grew up in Port Dalhousie (now part of St. Catharines). During adolescence, he floated between regional bands in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer. After a discouraging stint in England where he attempted to concentrate on his music, Neil returned home where he joined Rush, a Toronto-based band, in mid-1974; six years after its formation. Early in his career, Neil's performance style was deeply rooted in hard rock. He drew most of his inspiration from drummers such as Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, and John Bonham, players who were at the forefront of the British hard rock scene. In fact one of the earliest confirmation of Neil's admiration of The Who's Keith Moon came

After nearly thirty years since its release, Alex Lifeson's 1996 solo album, under the pseudonym "Victor", will be reissued on August 9th as a double vinyl offering. The double vinyl LP, which will also be available as a CD, with include four new instrumental tracks. From the announcement: Alex Lifeson is reintroducing his solo album "Victor," which was originally released on January 9, 1996. This marks Alex's sole venture into solo work, for which he handled the songwriting, production, and mixing himself. "Victor" is making its vinyl debut. The reissue features the original album, completely remixed by Alex personally, offering significantly enhanced audio quality specially prepared for this release. Additionally, the album's fourth side features four instrumental tracks. Among the album's guest appearances are I Mother Earth's lead vocalist Edwin and Les Claypool from Primus. SIDE A: 1. "Don't Care" (4:01)

On this date back in 2004, the Cygnus-X1.net website officially went online. It's hard to believe I've been at this for twenty years now, but here we are. I'm honestly a little baffled at how my little corner of the internet with very humble beginnings has grown over the years. At last count the website contains over 3,300 individual pages - yikes! - and that doesn't include the thousands upon thousands of scanned documents and images it houses. The site has certainly gone through its share of ups and downs over the years, but the encouragement I receive from so many of you has fueled the inspiration to keep it going. I don't know if I have another twenty years in me, either physically or financially, but as long as the world has Rush and/or Star Trek fans, I'll do my best to support you through C-X1. Thank you and, as always, enjoy- -John Please consider supporting the site - thank you! Comments

Gordon Lightfoot's legacy was ringing through the rafters at Massey Hall as old friends, close family and a generation of young talent united to pay tribute to the Canadian troubadour. The sold-out Thursday concert carried an extra special surprise as Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson made a rare musical appearance together. They joined Blue Rodeo to perform the Lightfoot original "The Way I Feel" with Geddy lending his vocals to the performance. Later, Geddy and Alex joined the group encore for a performance of 'Summer Side of Life.' Additional information about last night's performance is available HERE . You can watch Geddy and Alex's performance below or directly at this LINK . Comments

May 18th, 1974 was a cold, grey, and rainy day in East Lansing, Michigan. Not exactly ideal conditions for a 12-hour music festival at the Northside Drive-In. That, however, was the dream of 25-year old promoter Tom Demeter; to bring a kind of mini-woodstock to the area with hopes of up to 30,000 people attending. The outdoor concert was to be headlined by American blues singer Dr. John and feature eight additional bands. However numerous problems resulted in the festival being less than the spectacle Demeter was hoping for. First, the rains came. Then several members of the muddy, drug-addled crowd were taken away by ambulance. Finally, the headliner Dr. John never showed up. That left a bill featuring the still up-and-coming New York Dolls, a Beatles tribute band known as Liverpool, the Cosmic Beam Experience light show, and a trio of then-unknown future prog-rock stars called Rush . At this point in their history, Rush still featured original drummer John Rutsey. A certain Clevel

Geddy Lee has just announced that he will be holding a special edition of his My Effin' Life In Conversation Tour for one night at the Grand Théâtre de Québec as part of the Quebec City Summer Festival on July 13th. The event will take place in the 500-seat Salle Octave-Crémazie room, and 148 VIP tickets that include an autographed copy of his memoir will be made available. From his Instagram Post : This July I’m gonna pop into one of my fave parts of my 🇨🇦 “home and native land” - Quebec City - for an intimate convo about “My Effin’ Life”… as part of the annual @festivaleteqc. There's no word on who will join Geddy for this show, or if there might be any other 2024 dates...yet. Tickets are $57 CAD ($140 VIP) and on-sale now and available at this location . For a complete listing of the previous tour dates, venues, cities, photos, and more please click HERE . Order My Effin' Life today! Comments

Prolific author Daniel Bukszpan, whose works include Ozzy at 75: The Unofficial Illustrated History and The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal will now be adding Rush to his list of works. Scheduled for release on September 17, 2024, Rush at 50 will examine the history of the Canadian rockers through the lens of 50 milestone events and an illustrated gatefold timeline. More on the release: This richly illustrated and entertainingly written book from Rush expert and music journalist Dan Bukszpan pays tribute to the trio on the 50th anniversary of their debut album by curating and examining 50 of the most significant milestones in their career. Bukszpan covers everything down through the decades: The band’s formation by bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson in suburban Toronto and their early gigs and tours opening for the likes of Kiss Their breakthrough in the United States thanks to a Cleveland DJ The role of co-founding drummer John Rutsey Rush’s early Led Zeppelin–infl

TidalWave Comics is proud to announce the addition of the Canadian rock band RUSH to its popular “Orbit” comic book series focused on personalities who impact the world. “Orbit: RUSH” is released this week. Written by Todd Matthyand illustrated by Martin Gimenez, this 22-page comic book is available both digitally and in print and can be found on multiple platforms such as Amazon . It will also be released in paperback and hard cover the same day with a special cover by famed artist Noumier Tawilah. Rush, the Canadian band, takes center stage in a captivating comic book biography. With record-breaking sales, chart-topping hits, and an enduring influence on musicians worldwide, Rush’s extraordinary journey unfolds within these pages, showcasing the remarkable tale of a band that shaped generations. “Timeless. No other word to describe them,” said writer Todd Matthy. The “Orbit” comic book series has been featured in “Entertainment Weekly”, “Rolling Stone” magazine, “Time” magazi

On March 18th, 1974 , a typically cold day in the suburbs of Toronto, Canada, Rush released their self-titled debut album; the only album featuring their original drummer and co-founder John Rutsey. Though Rush was considered a fairly successful debut album for the band, the production and recording process wasn't without its share of issues. Recording began at Toronto's Eastern Sound back in April of 1973 with producer David Stock, and was completed within two days. The results, however, were less than stellar. The band made the difficult - and expensive - decision to re-record most of the album at Toronto Sound in October where they also enlisted the services of Terry Brown. The second recording of the album led to the dropping of some songs, including their first single Not Fade Away . The initial recordings of Finding My Way, Need Some Love, and Here Again took place during this time. Recording, mixing, and editing was completed within a couple of weeks and

The upcoming May 2024 issue of Guitar World magazine features a lengthy interview with Alex Lifeson where the discussion centers around a deep dive into his new line of signature Lerxst gear — amps, pedals and the new Limelight guitar (which is based on his original Hentor Sportscaster). In addition to his gear, Alex does discuss the possibility of making music with Geddy in the future and his time with his friend on the recent My Effin' Life In Conversation Tour "...I will say that doing this book tour with Geddy [for Lee’s 2023 memoir, My Effin’ Life], I did a few of the stops with him, and it’s kind of reignited interest in us getting out and playing. And the shows that we did last year for Taylor Hawkins [at the 2022 Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts] were inspiring, too. So for a little while I thought, you know, it’d be kind of good to get back out. And then I thought… nah, not really. [Laughs] I mean, we toured for 40 years. I’m not interested in going back ou

Mention the band RUSH to a music fan and they might describe the legendary Canadian trio as being well known for complex arrangements, powerful drumming, bombastic out-of-this-world synth and the fearlessness. Twice As High Records and JIB Machine Records aren’t trying to recreate that sound note-for-note in their joint release, “RUSH FOR COVER”, landing Friday, April 26; they’re trying to recreate that awesome feeling listening to these songs. “RUSH FOR COVER” features nine, new interpretations of classic RUSH songs by an international cast of independent, underground artists (none of whom are trios themselves). “RUSH FOR COVER” is a RUSH tribute album created by RUSH fans for RUSH fans. The album will be available on opaque creamsicle and opaque sky blue vinyl along with a limited digital release. Pre-sales begin Friday, March 15, via RushForCover.com . Coinciding with the pre-sales is a charity auction that includes the original painting used for the cover of the album by fan and

Alex Lifeson and Lerxst have just announced the launch of Limelight, a new signature guitar created in partnership with Canadian manufacturers Godin Guitars. Inspired by Lifeson’s iconic Hentor Sportscaster guitars from the mid-80s, Limelight thoroughly reimagines Lifeson’s original concept with modern part selection and craftsmanship to create a high-quality, forward-thinking instrument designed for today’s players. “The original Hentor brought together a mix of tone and playability that empowered me to explore sounds and styles of playing that I had never attempted before,” said Lifeson. “Ultimately these things became signature parts of my style. When the idea came to reimagine this guitar it made sense to partner with innovators like Godin who I knew I could trust to utilize the advances in technology and manufacturing skill to create something that could power a new generation of players looking to push their own boundaries.” The Lerxst Limelight features a contoured Swamp A