Over more than forty years, the Canadian power trio Rush—bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer Neil Peart—emerged as one of rock’s most respected and long-lasting groups. From their earliest days the band built a loyal and enthusiastic audience within hard rock, heavy metal, and prog circles. Their catalog surpassed 40 million units sold, earned seven Grammy nominations from 1981 through 2010, and produced 25 gold or platinum albums, all but three of which reached the upper half of the Billboard Top 200. Following the 1981 number-one album Moving Pictures, the group entered a seven-year stretch in which Lee’s synthesizer textures defined their studio sound, a phase that reached its peak with 1989’s Presto. In the 1990s they moved toward concise, radio-oriented hard rock, a direction captured most clearly on 1996’s Test for Echo. Their concluding era yielded recordings that blended heavier riffs with progressive structures in fresh configurations, ending with the 2012 conceptual release Clockwork Angels. The trio parted on good terms in 2015 once Peart chose to stop touring; he passed away from brain cancer in January 2020.
Rush came together in Toronto, Ontario during the fall of 1968, then consisting of guitarist Alex Lifeson (born Alexander Zivojinovich), vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib), and drummer John Rutsey. In that first lineup the band drew heavily from Cream and sharpened its abilities on the local club scene, releasing a 1973 debut single that reinterpreted Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away.” Their self-titled album appeared the next year, shortly before Rutsey departed; he was succeeded by Neil Peart, who also became the principal lyricist and whose words steadily shaped the group’s recorded identity.
Once Peart was established, Rush issued two albums in 1975—Fly by Night and Caress of Steel. The first contained the radio single “Fly by Night” and the band’s initial metal suite, “By-Tor and the Snow Dog.” It also included “Anthem,” whose title and themes echoed the dystopian novella by Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand; that author would exert still greater influence on the 1976 album 2112. The latter release marked their commercial breakthrough: a futuristic concept work rooted in Rand’s ideas, it integrated Lee’s high vocals, Peart’s expansive drumming, and Lifeson’s intricate guitar lines into a cohesive statement. Listeners responded strongly, launching a run of gold and platinum albums that continued for years. The record set a creative pattern the trio followed with few exceptions throughout its history.
A Farewell to Kings arrived in 1977 and climbed into the Top 40 on both sides of the Atlantic. After 1978’s Hemispheres, Rush reached wider popularity with 1980’s Permanent Waves, an album that reflected their turn toward tighter, more compact songwriting; the single “The Spirit of Radio” became a substantial radio success. Moving Pictures in 1981 brought further hits with “Tom Sawyer” and “Red Barchetta.” The former received extensive album-rock airplay and remains the trio’s most recognized track. Throughout the 1980s the band grew into a major concert attraction while albums such as 1982’s Signals (home to the hit “New World Man”), 1984’s Grace Under Pressure, and 1985’s Power Windows each sold in the millions.
As the decade wound down the members reduced their touring commitments. In the studio they pursued more atmospheric, keyboard-focused arrangements, notably on 1987’s Hold Your Fire, which featured Aimee Mann sharing vocals with Lee on the charting title track. At the start of the 1990s Rush returned to a heavier approach and emphasized Lifeson’s guitar, resulting in 1991’s Roll the Bones and 1993’s Counterparts, both of which reached the U.S. Top Three. In 1994 the band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. They released Test for Echo in 1996 and toured the following summer. In 1997 Peart lost his daughter in a car accident; the next year his wife died of cancer, prompting a three-year hiatus. He rejoined his bandmates in early 2001, though Vapor Trails did not appear until several years later. A concert recording from that tour was issued as the video Rush in Rio.
In 2004 Rush celebrated their thirtieth anniversary with a tour documented on the DVD R30. Two years afterward they reentered the studio and produced the 2007 album Snakes & Arrows. A documentary titled Beyond the Lighted Stage appeared in 2010. Their nineteenth studio album, the conceptual Clockwork Angels, was issued in June 2012. Although no new studio set followed in 2013, the band offered Vapor Trails Remixed along with the three-disc live set Clockwork Angels Tour, captured during the previous year’s shows. After taking 2013 off they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2014 they issued the R40 video box set to mark the fortieth anniversary of Peart’s membership. The next year they launched the North American R40 tour, widely regarded as their final major outing, which was preserved on the 2015 CD/DVD R40 Live.
The anniversary observances continued for several more years and included a reissue campaign that delivered deluxe remastered editions of 2112, Caress of Steel, A Farewell to Kings, and Hemispheres. The final release carried a note of closure: in January 2018 Lifeson told Toronto’s Globe & Mail, “We have no plans to tour or record any more. We’re basically done. After 41 years, we felt it was enough.” The sense of finality deepened when Neil Peart died on January 7, 2020, after a three-and-a-half-year struggle with brain cancer; he was 67.
