Rush singer Geddy Lee revealed that he told Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo he needed to destroy a bass, or he wasn’t a real bass player. He made the remarks in an NPR interview, as transcribed by Alternative Nation. Rush’s singer revealed what he really thinks about U2 yesterday.
Interviewer: We were talking about Geddy Lee’s big beautiful book of bass. Talking about destruction of guitars, when you interviewed Robert Trujillo of Metallica, you said, ‘You’re not a bass player if you haven’t destroyed one.’
Geddy Lee: That’s right. (Jason Newsted released an emotional message for Metallica fans a couple of days ago after James Hetfield entered rehab)
Interviewer: How many have you destroyed?
Geddy: I’ve only really destroyed one. I guess the first really good bass I ever bought was a 1968 Fender Precision bass. I had gathered enough money, I was playing high schools at that time and waiting to be old enough to play bars and stuff.
I saved up my money and went to buy this Fender Precision bass. The guy at the store said, ‘You should buy the P-bass because it is a workhorse. They’re sturdy, they sound great, and the sound is also flexible, you can do whatever you want with it tonally.’ It’s all true, it’s all true.
So I bought this ’68 P bass, and if you see any pictures of me playing the bars in my early years, there’s a Sunburst P bass in my hands, and that was my bass for a long, long time. (A Rush member was devastated by horrible drummer news a few days ago)