Rush singer/bassist Geddy Lee was recently interviewed on “Need To Know Bassist” on BBC Radio 6. He discussed why Rush stayed together for so long while Cream broke up quickly. He also revealed if he’s still friends with Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson after the band’s retirement.
“You look at Cream and you look at Ginger Baker’s temperament and the personalities involved in that band, and you can kind of understand why that didn’t stick together too long. Alex [Lifeson, guitar], Neil [Peart, drums] and myself are very nice Canadian boys, and we get along really, really well. And we say ‘sorry’ a lot, as you Brits tend to do. And we’re pals — we became pals. All those years on the road bonded us in a kind of friendship that is rare to find in a rock band.
And I didn’t realize that at the time — I do certainly realize it now how unique it was. But it kept us caring about each other for over 40 years, and I think that went a long way to keeping us together. And there’s a certain measure of irreverence that every band has to possess, and that creates your own brand of humor — every brand has its own brand of humor. And that’s a saving grace, and has always been for the three of us. And the fact that we also didn’t argue much about the direction of the band — we sort of [were], ‘all for one, one for all’ musically. So, those pieces have equated to longevity.”
He also discussed his future after Rush’s retirement, “I don’t know what my next step is. Rush basically stopped touring in 2015, and although we remain pals, there’s no plans to do any more Rush projects. Alex has been doing a variety of guest spots here and there, and he’s digging that. And I’ve been working on this book, and now I’m shamelessly promoting the book, traveling around the world. So, when this is all done and the dust settles, I’ll go back and look at those hundreds of bass guitars that are staring me in the face guiltily and I’ll figure out what the next step is.”
