Do not expect to see Rush go on without Neil Peart.
Peart’s death has taken a unique toll on each member of Rush; however, as far as the band members are collectively considered — Rush has made its final stop. The band spoke with Rolling Stone about how Peart’s death has effect the collective.
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“That’s finished, right? That’s over,” Geddy Lee said about Rush on the one-year-anniversary of Peart’s passing. “I still am very proud of what we did. I don’t know what I will do again in music. And I’m sure [Lifeson] doesn’t, whether it’s together, apart, or whatever. But the music of Rush is always part of us.”
“And I would never hesitate to play one of those songs in the right context,” he continued. “But at the same time, you have to give respect to what the three of us with Neil did together.”
Alex Lifeson admits Peart’s death has taken a potentially lasting toll on his musical output.
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“I thought, you know, ‘One day, when I’m just sitting around s**tting my pants, I’ll still want to play guitar.’ And that’s kind of gone now,” Lifeson explained. Lee is more optimistic about his own creative future: “For the longest time I didn’t have any heart to play. I still feel there’s music in me and there’s music in [Lifeson], but there’s no hurry to do any of that.”
Peart tied from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, on Jan. 7, 2020, in Santa Monica, Calif. He had been diagnosed with the illness three-and-a-half years earlier. The cancer diagnosis was closely guarded by his inner circle until his family announced his passing.
