Lee, Lifeson and Peart 087

Lee, Lifeson and Peart 087

Look closer for ten lyrics: “The blacksmith and the artist reflect it in their art” (Closer to the Heart); “For the words of the prophets were written on the studio walls” (The Spirit of Radio); “There is unrest in the forest, there is trouble with the trees” (The Trees); “What you say about his company is what you say about society” (Tom Sawyer); “He’s a signal turning green” (New World Man); “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice” (Freewill); “And the meek shall inherit the earth” (2112 Overture –The Temple of Syrinx); “The more things change, the more they stay the same” (Circumstances); “Freeze this moment a little bit longer” (Time Stand Still – feat Aimee Mann); and “Drawn like moths we drift into the city” (Subdivisions).

The Story

Rush was a Canadian rock band that primarily comprised Geddy Lee (bass guitar, keyboards, vocals), Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart (drums, percussion, lyricist). The band formed in Toronto in 1968 with Lifeson, drummer John Rutsey, and bass guitarist/vocalist Jeff Jones, whom Lee immediately replaced. After Lee joined, and other line-up changes, Rush added Peart in July 1974. Peart replaced Rutsey four months after the release of their self-titled debut album; this lineup remained intact for the remainder of the band’s career.

Rush first achieved success with their next album Fly by Night (1975). The failure of their next album Caress of Steel, released seven months after, resulted in the band almost getting dropped from Mercury Records. Rush’s fourth album, 2112 (1976), reignited their popularity, entering the top five on the Canadian charts. Their next two albums, A Farewell to Kings (1977) and Hemispheres (1978), were also successful, with Hemispheres entering the UK charts. The band’s popularity continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with albums charting highly in Canada, the US and the UK, including Permanent Waves (1980), Moving Pictures (1981), Signals (1982), Grace Under Pressure (1984), Roll the Bones (1991), Counterparts (1993) and Test for Echo (1996). Rush continued until 1997 when the band entered a four-year hiatus due to personal tragedies in Peart’s life. They regrouped in 2001 and released three more studio albums: Vapor Trails (2002), Snakes & Arrows (2007), and Clockwork Angels (2012). Rush performed their last concerts in 2015. Peart retired from music later that year. Neil Peart died at 67 from glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, on January 7, 2020. Lee and Lifeson have continued to periodically work together since Peart’s death, performing various venues like the tribute to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022. Talks of a Rush reunion have ensued since 2023.

Rush were known for their musicianship, acknowledged as some of the most proficient players on their respective instruments, with each winning numerous awards in magazine readers’ polls over the years. They also followed complex compositions and eclectic lyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy and philosophy. The band’s style changed over the years, from a blues-inspired hard rock beginning, later moving into progressive rock, then a period in the 1980s marked by heavy use of synthesizers, before returning to guitar-driven hard rock at the end of the 1980s. Clockwork Angels marked a return to progressive rock. 

As of 2022, Rush ranks 84th in the US with sales of 26 million albums and industry sources estimate their total worldwide album sales at over 42 million. Awarded 14 platinum and 3 multi-platinum albums in the US, 17 platinum albums in Canada, nominated 7 Grammy Awards, won Juno Awards, and an International Achievement Award, 2009 SOCAN Awards. Rush was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

credit – Wikipedia

Rush . . . is only third behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum albums by a rock band.

About Moving Pictures

Moving Pictures became the band’s biggest selling album in the U.S., rising to #3 on the Billboard charts. It remains Rush’s most popular and commercially successful studio recording. It followed a more radio-friendly format and includes several signature tracks, including “Tom Sawyer,” “Limelight,” “Red Barchetta,” and the band’s highly praised instrumental, “YYZ,” which is the IATA airport identification code of Toronto Pearson International Airport.

credit – rush.com

. . . Although heavily regarded as a fundamental band in the popularization of progressive rock, the group’s overall sound has encompassed a wide variety of musical genres throughout the years; most notably blues rock, hard rock, and a period that included heavy use of synthesizers.

The lyrical content is another huge key to the group’s success, with much of the band’s lyrics written by drummer Neil Peart. The band’s lyrics are famous for a wide range of subjects; most notably: fantasy, sci-fi, history, literature, and philosophy. Of note, Rush has generally avoided “love” songs as their lyrics have been primarily cerebral and philosophic in nature, although a few love songs do exist.

credit – genius.com

As MTV News reports, on August 10, 1997, Peart got on his motorbike to guide his daughter driving “through the back roads of Quebec to a gas station in Hawkesbury, Ontario.” Peart writes in Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. While Taylor did reach her destination, the 19-year-old died later that day after being involved in a single-car accident, her Jeep rolled over on Highway 401, somewhere between Toronto and Montreal, killing [Jackie] Neil’s only child.

The horrible news affected the couple tremendously, with Ultimate Classic Rock reporting that the aftermath led to Jacqueline suffering a breakdown. She would die 10 months later after a battle with cancer, though Peart believed it was really a broken heart. As for himself, Peart contemplated taking his own life.

“In the days following Selena’s death, I had learned for myself how a sunny day could actually seem dark, the sun totally wrong, and how the world around me, the busy lives of all those oblivious strangers, could seem so futile and unreal — as futile and unreal as what passed for my own life,” Peart wrote in his memoir. “It was hard for me to accept that fate could be so unjust, that other people’s lives should remain unscarred by the kind of evil that had been visited upon me.”

credit – http://www.grunge.com

Original 17” x 22” rendered in graphite and the following Prisma Colors: sunburst yellow for Peart’s dark sunny day; Silver for the intended finish of the Caress of Steel album cover; True Green for “He’s a signal turning green in New World Man; Pink for the color of the Rush logo on their self-titled debut album; Chrimson Red for Red Barchetta; Ultra Marine, Aqua Marine, and Light Aqua for the water that there is no swimming in from the song, Distant Early Warning; and Black.

Artist: Tobin Bortner of Bastrop, Texas – drawing done in November of 2024 – ©Tobin Signs/Look Closer Illustrations 
DERIVATIVE Work – photo credits: Lee’s face – progarchives_com – 2525; Lee’s bass – notrebel_com – Geddy-Lee-1500×992; Lifeson’s face – richestcelebrities_com – celebritynetworthwiki_org – Alex-Lifeson-Net-Worth; Peart’s face – nationalreview_com – neil-peart-1; drumsticks – drumthat_com – 20201129_134414-01-min

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