While speaking to “Out Of The Box” host Jonathan Clarke on Q104.3, Alex Lifeson revealed that immediately following the death of Rush’s longtime drummer Neil Peart in January 2020, he and bandmate Geddy Lee were flooded with emails from drummers who wanted to audition to replace Peart.
The revelation came after Lifeson was asked by Clarke about whether he and Lee have ever had a “casual conversation” about finding a new drummer.
“Oh, well, yeah, of course, because we’re bombarded by it all the time,” Lifeson replied. “After Neil passed, it didn’t take more than a few minutes before we started getting emails from all kinds of drummers who wanted to audition for the band, thinking that we were just gonna replace somebody that we played with for 40 years who wrote all the lyrics for our music. I don’t know what some of these people were thinking.”
“So, yeah, we’ve had the conversation, because we can’t avoid it,” he admitted. “But honestly, Ged is my best friend. I talk to him — I must talk to him every day. We get together for dinner, we play tennis, we’re doing all this charity work together. He’s my best bud, so, yeah, I go over there. He plays bass, I play guitar — yeah, we’ll play a little bit. I go over there ostensibly to play with him and we end up just sitting and drinking coffee and laughing the whole day.
“So it’s not just Rush, Rush, Rush, Rush, Rush. I have a deep loving relationship with this man, and it’s not all about creating something that we did from the past. You never know what life brings you. Right now I’m super happy doing what I’m doing. I’m engaged with a lot of musical stuff. I love being a musician. I love playing guitar. I love playing guitar so much. It’s not just a vehicle for making a living. It’s me. It’s at the core of my essence. So it doesn’t have to be about Rush or Envy of None. I mean, I do what I do.”
Despite many fans hoping for a Rush reunion, in several recent interviews Lifeson and Lee have both insisted they have no plans to ever reunite the band, saying that it doesn’t feel right without Peart.
