THE COMPLETE GUIDE How Much Do You Know? a360 Media Specials - December 2023 |
Since Rush formed in 1968, the members of the band have refused to adhere to whatever hit-making formula happened to be in vogue at any particular moment. Instead, Rush blazed its own path forward—a creative journey that resulted in epic masterpieces with cryptic lyrics inspired by Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, undanceable odd-time signatures that obscured the beat, and solos that led to a well-earned reputation as a band of musician’s musicians.
But for much of its life span, Rush was underappreciated—and even bashed—by critics. And while the group was being dismissed by the so-called music tastemakers, so were many of its fans—by society in general. Out of this unfair marginalization came a powerful bond. Rush spoke for the underrepresented in rock—the outcasts, the intelligent, and the “uncool.”
Eventually, things changed. Mass audiences—and even the critics—finally caught up. Now how much you know about Rush is a measure of how well you know music. In the pages that follow, you can put that knowledge to the ultimate test. This pop quiz is all about Rush. And if you do well, consider yourself not just worthy, but a music expert.
1: Who were the members of Rush's original August 1968 lineup?
Alex Lifeson was 15 when he founded Rush with drummer John Rutsey and bassist-singer Jeff Jones. Lifeson and Rutsey had been in a short-lived band called the Projection in 1968. Later that year, they formed a band with Jones, playing cover songs (mostly from the Cream catalog) at their first paying gigs. Rutsey’s older brother, Bill, is credited for suggesting the name “Rush” to the boys. Jones only played one show before being replaced by Geddy Lee, but he went on to a successful music career nonetheless. Jones’ gospel band, Ocean, had a smash hit with “Put Your Hand in the Hand,” which reached No. 2 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971.
2: Where was the first show Rush played after Geddy Lee joined the band?
After playing bass and singing lead vocals at Rush’s first paying gig on Sept. 6, 1968, Jeff Jones effectively quit the band. Legend has it that hours before the second show, he canceled because he wanted to go to a party. Alex Lifeson had jammed with schoolmate Geddy Lee before and often borrowed his amp, so he called Lee to sub in. The Lee-Lifeson-Rutsey trio played their first show at the Coff-In, a coffee house in the basement of Saint Theodore of Canterbury Anglican Church, located in the North York borough of Toronto. The trio played every Friday night at the Coff-In for the next 14 weeks.
3: Who briefly replaced Geddy Lee in Rush in 1969?
Shortly after Ray Danniels took over as Rush’s manager, he convinced the band to part ways with Lee. The singer was replaced by Joe Perna, and the group briefly changed its name to Hadrian. The band was a foursome at that time, with Lindy Young (who later became Lee’s brother-in-law) on keyboards. Alex Lifeson called a gig with Perna “a nightmare” and “chaos” because of his lack of preparation. In a 2012 interview with Classic Rock magazine, Lee recalled, “I started a blues band and I was, frankly speaking, doing better than they were. Then I got a call from John [Rutsey] and he said, ‘Can we get together?’ Basically, ‘Can you come back? We’re sorry.’”
4: Where did Rush play its first show on U.S. soil?
In May 1974, Rush appeared at a music festival at the Northside Drive-In in Lansing, Michigan. The band’s U.S. debut was nothing short of a disaster. Thirty thousand fans were expected to enjoy 12 hours of music, capped off with a show by Dr. John. Instead, a rainy day made for miserable conditions, and the group estimates that only about 1,300 fans turned up. Dr. John was a no-show—a development that did not please the crowd—and the headlining replacement act, the glam-punk New York Dolls (whom Rush had opened for in Toronto the previous October), wasn’t exactly a like-for-like substitution. Coverage in the local paper the next day focused more on the dangerous drug use at the event than on the music.
5: A radio station in what city gave Rush its first airplay in the States?
Donna Halper was music director at Cleveland’s WMMS-FM and was instrumental in Rush’s Stateside breakthrough. Halper was a trailblazer—dating back to being the first female announcer on her college’s radio station during her days at Northeastern University in Boston. Upon receiving Rush’s debut album, Halper was underwhelmed by “In the Mood,” but was also impressed by “Working Man” and its potential to resonate with Cleveland’s blue-collar ethos. She took the record to disc jockey Denny Sanders, who took one listen, and then immediately played it on air. Halper fittingly gets a “special thanks” in the liner notes of the U.S. edition of Rush.
6: Who did Rush open for the night of John Rutsey's final show?
The last Rush show behind the drum kit for John Rutsey was at Centennial Hall in London, Ontario, on July 25, 1974. Rush opened for KISS—the first time the two bands had shared a bill. KISS was impressed with the Canadian trio, who shared the same booking agency. Over the next 18 months, Rush opened for KISS more than 50 times. Health concerns and possible musical disagreements led to Rutsey’s departure—he’d missed a few months of gigs earlier that year because of an illness—meaning it was Neil Peart who played drums with Rush on the dozens of KISS shows that followed.
7: What was the first Rush album to reach the top 100 in the United States?
Rush cracked Billboard’s U.S. top 100 albums for the first time in 1976 with 2112. Their previous release—1975’s Caress of Steel—had been an ambitious attempt at progressive rock, and closed with two sprawling, multimovement musical stories: “The Necromancer” (more than 12 minutes long); and “The Fountain of Lamneth” (nearly 20 minutes). The album was a commercial flop, and Mercury Records pushed for a follow-up full of concise, straight-ahead, radio-friendly tracks. Instead, Rush stuck to their guns and delivered 2112, an album that begins with a seven-movement sci-fi opera that’s longer than any track on Caress of Steel.
8: In which city did Neil Peart play his first show with Rush?
After replacing John Rutsey behind the drum kit, Peart made his live debut with Rush in Pittsburgh on Aug. 14, 1974, when the group opened for Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and Uriah Heep. Concert promoter Rich Engler later recalled not wanting the Canadian group on the bill that night and only adding the trio as a third act as a favor to manager Ray Danniels. In front of a crowd of thousands, Rush played four songs: “Finding My Way,” “In the Mood,” “Bad Boy” and “Working Man.” A drum solo from Peart rounded out the short set.
9: On what tour did Rush play its first shows in Europe?
According to Rush’s website, the A Farewell to Kings Tour consisted of 142 concerts that spanned from August 1977 to April 1978. The first overseas show Rush ever played was in Birmingham, England, in February 1978. Local music critic Bill Green praised the show: “This is the best gig I’ve been to, and Rush now join my old favorites. I have nothing but praise for them—see them if you can.”
1: What was Alex Lifeson's name at birth?
Lifeson was born Alexandar Živojinović in Fernie, B.C., on Aug. 17, 1953. Živojinović can be roughly translated into English as “life’s son,” thus expaining how Alex got his stage name. His parents, Nenad and Melanija Živojinović, were Serbian immigrants from Yugoslavia who met in Canada. After Nenad, a miner, hurt his back, the family moved to Toronto, where Lifeson grew up surrounded by music. Lifeson’s parents bought him a guitar as a gift and he taught himself to play by ear.
2: In what documentary does Lifeson appear as a teenager?
Lifeson is one of 10 teenagers featured in the 1972 documentary Come on Children. The film was directed by Allan King, who’d previously earned acclaim for his 1967 project, Warrendale, which chronicled the lives of emotionally disturbed children in a Toronto facility, and the 1969 film, A Married Couple, a cinema verité peek at a real-life marriage in crisis. Come on Children was a “reality show” before the term existed—King brought 10 teenagers to live together on a farmstead for 10 weeks, removed from their families, schools and other obligations of everyday life. Alex was one of the movie’s “stars,” and shows off his guitar skills in the film.
3: What solo did Lifeson tell MusicRadar is his favorite to play live?
Lifeson said his brilliant solo on “Limelight” was his favorite to perform in concert. “I love the elasticity of the solo,” he said. “It’s a very emotional piece of music for me to play. The song is about loneliness and isolation, and I think the solo reflects that. There’s a lot of heart in it. It’s a feel thing—you have to feel a solo as you play it, otherwise it’s going to sound stiff.” Lifeson also listed “Kid Gloves” and “Freewill” among his favorite songs to play.
4: Under what pseudonym did Lifeson release a 1996 solo album?
Lifeson recorded an 11-track, self-titled album under the moniker “Victor.” He took the name from the title of a 1937 ballad by poet W. H. Auden about a sheltered young man who has a violent psychological break. In a 1998 interview, Lifeson said of the album, “It ended up being more successful than I expected it to be. [It] was something I did for myself, and if no one had bought a copy or heard it, it wouldn’t have bothered me, it was something I needed to do…. But I was mostly really moved by the number of good reviews that it got, and that was a wonderful thing.”
5: To what charity does Lifeson donate his proceeds for sales of his signature Hughes & Kettner TriAmp?
Lifeson was already using Hughes & Kettner amps when the company introduced his signature model in 2005. He decided that his share of sales would go directly to UNICEF. The company touted the TriAmp as a one-of-a-kind piece of equipment: “Opting for his fave tolex and groovy purple backlighting to illuminate the plexi front panel, he kitted out a new line of amps featuring precisely the specs of the TriAmps he played on Rush’s world tour.” Towards the end of Rush’s run, Lifeson changed his amp configuration. But he continues to use Hughes & Kettner amp heads.
6: On what band's song, titled "Anesthetize," did Lifeson record a guest solo?
After reading that Lifeson was a fan of his band, Porcupine Tree leader Steven Wilson invited the guitarist to contribute to their 2007 album, Fear of a Blank Planet. Robert Fripp, of King Crimson fame and another of Wilson’s musical heroes, appears on a different track on the same album. Porcupine Tree began as a solo project for Wilson in the late 1980s, and in the decades since has blossomed into a critically acclaimed and influential prog and experimental rock band, carrying the torch for Rush and other forebears.
7: On what song does Lifeson play a Greek instrument called a bouzouki?
On Rush’s 2007 album, Snakes & Arrows, Lifeson plays mandolin, mandola and bouzouki on “Workin’ Them Angels.” “I went to visit a friend in Greece last summer who had a bouzouki,” Lifeson explained in an interview with Guitar Player. “When I was there, I bought one, and I would get up every morning around 6 a.m., and sit on the edge of this cliff with my feet literally dangling over. I would sit there with my coffee, strumming this bouzouki, and learning how to play it. These little fishing boats would go by, and the fishermen would be shouting and waving at me. It was awesome. So I had to get it on this record somewhere.”
8: A live version of which Rush song appeared on the 2008 compilation album Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace?
“Hope,” a live solo instrumental written by Lifeson (who plays it on a 12-string guitar) is Rush’s contribution to an album that includes Sting, John Mayer (pictured below), Jackson Browne and a host of other accomplished artists. The album’s intent was to show support for Tibet and the Dalai Lama, while also promoting peace and human rights. It was released in August 2008, coinciding with the start of the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Rush’s contribution—recorded live in Canada during a May 2008 show at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan—earned a Grammy nomination for best rock instrumental performance.
9: What song did Lifeson release in 2022 as a tribute to Neil Peart?
After Peart’s death in January 2020, Lifeson took some time off, telling Rolling Stone, “It just didn’t seem important.” He formed the band Envy of None, which released its eponymous debut album in April 2022. The closing track is the instrumental, “Western Sunset.” “I visited Neil when he was ill,” Lifeson said. “I was on his balcony watching the sunset and found inspiration. There’s a finality about a sunset that kinda stayed with me throughout the whole process. It had meaning. It was the perfect mood to decompress after all these different textures… a nice way to close the book.”
1: What two songs appear on Rush’s first record, released in 1973?
Rush’s first record, which peaked at No. 88 on the Canadian RPM singles chart, included a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” with an original titled “You Can’t Fight It” as the B-side. In 2011, Alex Lifeson said in an interview with MusicRadar: “Because we were having such a hard time getting a [record] deal, our management thought that maybe something a little more accessible, possibly something already known, would be the way to go.” He said that “Not Fade Away” was a song they played live in a very heavy, Led Zeppelin-esque style, but that they lightened it up a bit for the record. “You Can’t Fight It” was a tune Geddy Lee and John Rutsey had written in 1971. It was chosen because it was an up-tempo song that was less than three minutes.
2: What is Rush's longest single-movement song?
Clocking in at 11:06 (per the back of the record), “Xanadu” off of 1977’s A Farewell to Kings, is the longest Rush song that isn’t broken into sections. The track was inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s opium-induced 1797 poem Kubla Khan. Xanadu, also known as Shangdu, was the summer capital of the Yuan Dynasty, located in the northeast of modern-day China. Rush also took inspiration from the 1941 film Citizen Kane, in which the titular character (played by Orson Welles) lives in an estate called Xanadu, described in a newsreel as a “stately pleasure-dome.” Despite the track’s epic length and technical demands, the take heard on A Farewell to Kings was Rush’s first pass at the entire song.
3: From which station did Rush borrow the phrase "The Spirit of Radio"?
Neil Peart’s lyrics for “The Spirit of Radio” were inspired by Canadian station CFNY-FM, based out of Brampton, Ontario. “We were working at a farmhouse out in the country in western Ontario and commuting home on weekends,” Peart explained. “I remember coming home very late and CFNY radio was on the air, and as I was cresting the escarpment with all of the lights below of Hamilton and the Niagara Peninsula, where I lived at the time, with a fantastic combination of music that was on at the time. And CFNY’s motto at the time [was] ‘the spirit of radio.’ The song itself, musically, is switching between radio stations, with a reggae section at the end, the second verse is new wave, I’m playing like a punk drummer there, and that was all intentional.”
4: Which song oeaked highest on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart?
The only Rush song to crack the top 40 was “New World Man,” which reached No. 21 in October 1982. (Men At Work’s “Who Can It Be Now?” was the No. 1 song that week.) The first single off of Signals—released in advance of the album—“New World Man” was Rush’s only song to top RPM’s singles charts in Canada. It was also the last song the band had written and recorded for the album. There was room on side 2 for something that was less than four minutes long. The trio wrote the song in one day and recorded it the next.
5: Which Rush song was dedicated to a Le Studio assistant engineer?
“Afterimage,” from Grace Under Pressure, was dedicated to the memory of Robbie Whelan, a tape operator at Le Studio in Quebec, where Rush recorded seven of their albums. Whelan had worked on Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures and Signals, but was killed in a car accident months before Rush entered the studio in November 1983 to begin working on Grace Under Pressure. Just 31 years old, Whelan had also worked on albums by the Police, Bryan Adams and Rainbow. He was a friend to the members of Rush, and had taught Neil Peart how to cross-country ski, a fact referenced in the lyrics of the song.
6: What 1985 animated television movie was named after a Rush song?
The Body Electric, directed by David Feiss and produced by Atkinson Film-Arts, tells the story of three humans stuck inside a postapocalyptic city in the wake of the “Android Uprising.” The movie prominently features the music of Rush, with snippets from “Red Sector A,” “2112,” “Cygnus X-1 Book II Hemispheres,” “Different Strings,” “Jacob’s Ladder,” “The Fountain of Lamneth,” “The Body Electric,” “Working Man” and “Marathon.”
7: About which song is Geddy Lee quoted as saying, “I think this is the best instrumental we’ve ever written”?
Lee bestowed that honor on “Leave That Thing Alone” from 1993’s Counterparts. The track earned a Grammy nomination for best rock instrumental performance, but lost to Pink Floyd’s “Marooned,” from the 1994 album The Division Bell. “Leave” songwriter Neil Peart gave the song a wider range of moods and colors by changing up the feel. “In the second verse I go into a Nigerian beat…. Later in the song I go into a quasi-jazz pattern, and all these things are introduced for our own entertainment as well as to make the piece more interesting.”
8: On what song did Lee and Alex Lifeson perform as part of the Big Dirty Band?
Lee and Lifeson play with the one-off supergroup on a cover of “I Fought the Law” for the soundtrack to the 2006 film Trailer Park Boys: The Movie. Other members of the Big Dirty Band included Canadian rockers Ian Thornley (guitarist and lead singer for Big Wreck), Care Failure (lead vocalist for Die Mannequin), Adam Gontier (guitarist and lead singer for Three Days Grace) and Jeff Burrows (drummer for the Tea Party).
9: What is Rush's shortest self-contained song?
Excluding movements of larger works, Rush’s shortest song is “BU2B2”—which lasts for all of 1:28—from their final album, Clockwork Angels. The album also has 12 tracks with vocals, the most of any Rush LP. Other Rush songs that clock in at under three minutes are “Need Some Love” (2:19) from their eponymous debut, “Making Memories” (2:57) from Fly by Night, “Closer to the Heart” (2:52) and “Madrigal” (2:33) from A Farewell to Kings, and “Hope” (2:03) and “Malignant Narcissism” (2:17), both of which are instrumentals on Snakes & Arrows.
1: What was the first non-Rush album produced by Geddy Lee?
Lee produced the 1983 album Boys Brigade, the eponymous—and only—release from an up-and-coming Canadian new wave outfit. Boys Brigade had put themselves on the map two years earlier when their track “Mannequin” was chosen for a compilation record of local music put out by a Toronto radio station. Rush manager Ray Danniels then got the band a recording deal with Anthem Records and Lee signed on as producer. Boys Brigade had a few tracks that made dents in select markets, but the band broke up not long after its release. Singer-keyboardist Malcolm Burn eventually made a career for himself as a producer, and won a Grammy in 2001 for his work with Emmylou Harris.
2: What was Lee's name when he was born?
Geddy was born on July 29, 1953, and given the name Gary Lee Weinrib. His parents were both from Poland and met in 1939 when they were in a Nazi work camp. After they both survived the Holocaust, they miraculously reunited and then married at the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp. They moved to Canada shortly thereafter. Lee’s mother’s thick Polish accent made it sound to a friend of his like she was calling him “Geddy.” The nickname stuck. “Eventually, all of my friends started calling me ‘Geddy,’” Lee said. “And eventually my mother started to call me Geddy, for real.” He later had his name legally changed.
3: Into what shape did Lee cut his Fender Precision Bass, often used during encores, while on tour in the 1970s?
Through the years, Lee has tried a range of bass setups. Dissatisfied with the tone of his Rickenbacker 4001, a bass he bought with money from Rush’s first record deal in 1974, he tried to modify a Fender Precision bass. “I played with the shape of the body; I cut it into a teardrop shape and added a jazz bridge pickup to hotrod it up,” he said. “I actually destroyed that bass, pretty much! It had a pretty outrageous sound. I still have it, it’s quite an instrument. It looks crazy.” He also changed the color from sunburst to blue, and in the 1970s would play the teardrop bass for encores.
4: On what Top 20 Billboard single did Lee sing the hook as a guest performer?
On the Canadian comedy series SCTV, Bob and Doug McKenzie were a pair of goofy brothers—played by, respectively, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas—who liked to sit around, drink beer and argue. The lunkheaded duo appeared in a recurring sketch called “Great White North,” a bit that became so popular that Moranis and Thomas put out an album of the same name in 1981. The release reached No. 1 in Canada and No. 8 in the U.S. Lee, who had gone to school with Moranis, was brought in to sing “Take Off,” the album’s “hit single,” as it is identified during Lee’s humorous spoken-word preamble with the McKenzies. The brothers argue throughout the song, only pausing long enough for Lee to sing a high-pitched, soaring melody.
5: Lee played bass on tracks titled “All the Horses Running” and “Over Queen Charlotte Sound” and “Where the Grey Sky Meets the Sea” for what folk singer?
Lee plays on three songs on Marie-Lynn Hammond’s 1983 album, Vignettes. Hammond, who hails from Montreal and writes songs in both English and French, had been in the band Stringband with Rush collaborator Ben Mink. Mink, whose otherband, FM, had opened for Rush in 1981, produced and plays various instruments on Vignettes. Interestingly, Lee doesn’t play on the song “Distant Early Warning Line,” from Hammond’s self-titled 1978 debut. Rush’s “Distant Early Warning” was released in 1984. The Distant Early Warning Line was a radar system in northern Canada from 1957 to 1993 intended to detect Soviet air raids.
6: Lee and his daughter, Kyla, made a nonspeaking appearance in 2007 on an episode of what television show?
Geddy and Kyla appear as guests at a baby shower in a season 7 episode of Gilmore Girls. The Lees were fans of the show and took a tour of the set while they were in Los Angeles. Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, who grew up in Canada (and is a huge Rush fan), had a recurring role on the show as a member of a supporting character’s band. He met up with the Lees and convinced producer Helen Pai to get them on camera for a scene. While on set, Lee found out that he’d actually been in a fantasy baseball league with actor Sean Gunn (who played Kirk on the show) for years.
7: Who plays drums on Lee’s 2000 solo album, My Favourite Headache?
Matt Cameron (pictured below), most famous as a member of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, plays on 10 of Headache’s 11 tracks. (For “Home on the Strange”—the last song recorded—Our Lady Peace drummer Jeremy Taggart stepped in.) Cameron was born and raised in San Diego, California, and moved to Seattle in 1983. Three years later, he joined Soundgarden, with whom he laid down six studio albums’ worth of breathtakingly musical, powerful and impressive drum tracks. Soundgarden broke up in 1997, and Cameron joined Pearl Jam the next year—he’s played on every album of theirs since 2000’s Binaural.
8: What program at Ontario’s Niagara College offers a scholarship in Lee’s name?
The Geddy Lee Scholarship is for second-year students in Niagara College’s Wine and Viticulture Technician program. Lee and Alex Lifeson became interested in wine during Rush’s early days, and Lee started his own collection with gifts from promoters. As of a March 2012 interview with Decanter.com, Lee had 7,500 bottles in his collection. The scholarship program was established by Grapes for Humanity, a charity that “raises funds through wine events, including dinners, wine tastings and wine auctions.” Lee has been a board member since the organization’s founding in 2001, and Lee and Lifeson have each donated valuable bottles from their personal collections, Rush memorabilia, and in-person meetups to help with fundraising.
9: What American museum features the Geddy Lee Collection, comprising items the singer has donated to the museum?
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, is home to a collection of autographs donated by Lee. The museum, founded in 1990 by former Negro league players, commemorates the decades-long history of segregated, Black professional baseball leagues, which lasted from the late 1800s into the mid-20th century. Lee is a huge baseball fan, and while on tour in Kansas City, a friend took him to the museum. After his visit, Lee saw that a collection of 200 baseballs signed by Negro league players was up for auction—he put in a winning bid and donated them all to the museum, later adding another 200 autographed balls. Among the signatures was one belonging to country singer Charley Pride, who, before his music career took off, had played for several Negro and minor league teams.
1: Who was Rush's lighting designer and director?
In 1974, booking agent Howard Ungerleider left New York to take a gig in Ontario. Little did he know it would be the start of an artistic partnership that would span more than 40 years. Ungerleider served as Rush’s tour manager, tour accountant, lighting designer and lighting director for more than 20 years. “Rush always gave me freedom to create my lighting designs, which were customized to suit the material that they were producing,” he said. “I believe that I had as much passion and drive creating lighting effects for the entire band as they had for their music.”
2: In what theater was All the World’s a Stage recorded?
Rush’s first live album was recorded during three 1976 shows at Toronto’s historic Massey Hall. Named for businessman and philanthropist Hart Massey, the venue opened in 1894 and was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1981. It was the longtime home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and has also hosted the likes of Van Halen, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Bob Dylan, Ravi Shankar and Cream. All the World’s a Stage was Rush’s first top 40 album in the U.S.
3: What band altered a Rush concert photo to use on their album?
The inside of the gatefold sleeve on Rainbow’s 1978 LP, Long Live Rock ’n’ Roll, is a photo of a group of fans holding up a sign with the album’s title on it… but the image was a reversed and altered version of a photo from a Rush show. The sign in the original features Rush’s “Starman” logo and reads: “Plymouth Mich. Welcomes Rush.” The photo had been taken by music photographer Fin Costello, who later “got an earful” from Rush about its use on the Rainbow album. But it wasn’t Costello’s idea. He’d made a dummy version of an album cover with the unaltered Rush shot in the centerfold thinking it would be replaced. Rainbow’s label, Polydor, used the photo without telling him.
4: What band opened for Rush to close their 1994 Counterparts Tour?
The Counterparts Tour was the last Rush road show to feature opening acts, and the band I Mother Earth took the stage first at the tour’s final stop, at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. I Mother Earth achieved plenty of commercial success in Canada in the 1990s. Their ’93 debut, Dig, beat out Rush’s Counterparts for a Juno rock album of the year award. Three years later, the band’s follow-up, Scenery and Fish, sold more than 300,000 copies in Canada. The other shows on the Counterparts Tour had been opened by Candlebox, the Melvins, Primus and the Doughboys.
5: In what city did Rush headline in front of its largest audience?
An estimated 60,000 prog-rock fans filled Estádio do Morumbi in São Paulo, Brazil, to see Rush on Nov. 22, 2002. It was the second of the band’s three shows in Brazil—Rush’s first visit to South America—which was the final stop on the Vapor Trails Tour. More than 125,000 fans attended those three shows. Drummer Neil Peart estimated that Rush’s largest crowd prior to São Paulo had been a throng of 20,000 at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state during the 1997 Test for Echo Tour.
6: What band closed the show at the July 2003 "Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto" benefit concert??
The Rolling Stones played a 90-minute set for a crowd of more than 400,000. With Toronto’s economy reeling from the SARS outbreak, it was the Stones who’d suggested a benefit concert to help kick-start the economy of Canada’s biggest city. Canadian actor Dan Aykroyd hosted the event at Downsview Park, which also featured performances by AC/DC, the Guess Who, the Flaming Lips, and many other bands. Rush was the last band added to the bill, having been off the road for eight months.
7: Where did Rush play a concert to benefit victims of the 2013 Alberta floods?
In June 2013, heavy rainfall led to catastrophic flooding in the Canadian province of Alberta, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage, the displacement of more than 100,000 people, and five deaths. Rush’s benefit show was held at the ENMAX Centrium (now named the Peavey Mart Centrium) in Red Deer, Alberta. All proceeds were donated to flood relief.
8: Where was the final show of the R40 farewell tour?
Rush played their final show on Aug. 1, 2015, at the Forum in Inglewood, California. The crowd of about 13,000 included actor Jack Black (pictured below, top), Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins (below, middle), Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith (below, bottom), Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, and South Park cocreator Matt Stone. The setlist spanned much of Rush’s discography, played in reverse chronological order, but included nothing from Power Windows, Hold Your Fire, Presto and Test for Echo.
9: What four songs were played as the encore to Rush's final show in 2015?
The encore at Rush’s final concert consisted of “Lakeside Park,” “Anthem,” “What You’re Doing” and “Working Man.” The R40 tour set went in reverse chronological order: The night opened with “The Anarchist” and the first set closed with “Subdivisions.” The trio stormed back in set two with “Tom Sawyer” (preceded by a South Park clip) and ended with four movements from 2112: “Part I: Overture,” “Part II: The Temples of Syrinx,” “Part IV: The Presentation” and “Part VII: Grand Finale.”
1: What was the name of Neil Peart's first band?
Peart went to Lakeport High School in St. Catharines, Ontario, and it was in a variety show there that he played drums with his first band, The Eternal Triangle. The group was a three-piece outfit (drums, piano, saxophone) and Peart recounted that they played an original song titled “LSD Forever.” The set also included Peart’s first drum solo, which he described as a success. “I will never forget how I glowed with the praise from the other kids in the show,” he wrote in a 1994 article in the St. Catharines Standard.
2: Peart was elected to the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1983; who were the only two rock drummers to win the honor before him?
John Bonham in 1981 and Keith Moon in ’82 were the first two rock drummers elected by readers to the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame, both posthumously. They followed Gene Krupa, the first honoree in 1979, and Buddy Rich, who was elected in 1980. Modern Drummer was first published in 1977, and its first readers’ poll appeared in the May/June 1979 issue. Readers voted Peart the best drummer in rock for six straight years, from 1980 to ’85.
3: For which tour did Peart start using multiple drum kits?
In September 1983, Rush played five shows at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. Wanting to incorporate the increasingly electronic sounds of the band without eschewing acoustic drums, Peart added an arsenal of pads and triggers behind his primary kit for these shows. He could reach some of them from his usual position, but he also had to play some songs with his back to the audience. By the time the band was on the Grace Under Pressure Tour in 1983 and ’84, a rotating riser had been added so that Peart could move between a fully acoustic kit and a hybrid featuring electronics.
4: Which jazz legend composed “Cotton Tail,” which Peart performs on the album Burning for Buddy?
Peart first played with Buddy Rich’s band in 1991, four years after Rich’s death. Three years later, with the help of Rich’s daughter, Cathy, and her husband, Steve Arnold, Peart produced the star-studded Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich, with Rich’s band playing alongside a who’s who of drumming greats. Pianist and composer Duke Ellington wrote “Cotton Tail” in 1940. The song, one of countless jazz tunes based on the chord progression of George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” (which was written in 1930), later formed part of Rich’s live sets.
5: On whose advice did Peart take lessons from jazz drummer Freddie Gruber?
During the Burning for Buddy recording sessions, Peart was “amazed and delighted” at the masterful playing of Steve Smith. Peart, who’d known Smith since they’d both played on jazz bassist Jeff Berlin’s 1985 album, Champion, asked Smith for the secret to his recent improvements. Smith replied, “Freddie.” So, Peart struck up a relationship with the distinguished drummer and drum teacher Freddie Gruber. Despite all of the success and accolades he’d enjoyed during Rush’s first 20 years, Peart completely rethought his approach, changed his left-hand grip, and got back to basics to revitalize his playing.
6: In what movie does Peart make a cameo as himself?
Adventures of Power, which debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the journey of a man named Power as he strives to win an air-drumming competition. The titular role is played by Ari Gold, who also wrote and directed the film. In the movie, after Power wins the competition by outlasting two other drummers during a rendition of “Tom Sawyer,” Peart congratulates him and announces a $2,000 award. The movie’s DVD extras include an absurd drum-off between Peart (on real drums) and Gold (on air-drums) “playing” a live version of “Tom Sawyer” together.
7: What was the topic of Peart’s first nonfiction book?
The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa, first published in 1996, chronicles Peart’s travels in Cameroon. In the fall of 1988, Peart joined four strangers for a monthlong bike tour that started in the coastal city of Douala (Cameroon’s largest city). Originally published by Pottersfield Press, a small Nova Scotian outfit, ECW Press bought the publishing rights in 2004 to release a second edition to a wider audience.
8: On what band's 2009 album did Peart play drums on three tracks?
Burning the Days, the fifth studio album from Vertical Horizon, featured Peart on three songs: “Even Now,” Save Me From Myself” and “Welcome to the Bottom.” Additionally, Peart cowrote “Even Now.” Peart also played on two more songs—“Instamatic” and “South for the Winter”—on the band’s next studio release: 2013’s Echoes From the Underground.
9: What’s the title of Peart’s posthumous novel, cowritten with Kevin J. Anderson?
Published in June 2022, Clockwork Destiny was the final installment in a trilogy that draws upon the lyrics and themes of Rush’s final studio album, 2012’s Clockwork Angels. Anderson (pictured below) has written spin-off novels based on Star Wars, The X-Files and Dune. He and Peart published the novel version of Clockwork Angels in 2012. They then wrote Clockwork Lives three years later. The pair worked on the third novel in the last years of Peart’s life. With the support of Peart’s wife, Carrie Nuttall, Anderson finished the book more than a year after the drummer died in 2020.
1: Rush is represented by SRO Management. What does SRO stand for?
Ray Danniels is the founder of SRO Management—the initials stand for “Standing Room Only.” Danniels got his start in the music business as a teenager in Toronto. In 1971, he became Rush’s agent and manager. When Rush was unable to find a record company to put out their self-titled debut album, Danniels started one (originally called Moon Records; later changed to Anthem Records) to ensure the music would get pressed. SRO Management has also worked with Van Halen, Extreme, Big Wreck, and others.
2: On what historic album was Terry Brown an engineer before working with Rush?
Before he started working with Rush, Brown was an engineer on Jimi Hendrix’s 1967 album, Axis: Bold as Love. (The engineering team also included Eddie Kramer and Andy Johns, both of whom went on to impressive careers as producers.) Brown’s first work with Rush was remixing their self-titled debut. He then produced the band’s next eight albums, from 1975’s Fly by Night to 1982’s Signals.
3: On which Rush album did artist Hugh Syme’s “Starman” image first appear?
Syme’s first work with Rush was designing the cover art for 1975’s Caress of Steel. The imagery and text was supposed to be in a silvery color (to match the “steel” of the album’s title), but a printing error resulted in a gold coloration that was never corrected. Syme went on to create Rush’s cover art for the rest of their existence, including the “Starman” image in the interior of 2112, which became a band logo. Syme himself can be seen waving in the background of the cover image for 1980’s Permanent Waves.
4: Who was credited as cowriter on “Tom Sawyer”?
Rush’s signature song is credited to “Rush” and Pye Dubois. This is because the song was based on a Dubois poem titled “Louis the Lawyer,” which Neil Peart reworked into song lyrics for the opening track on 1981’s Moving Pictures. Dubois, a self-described “antiromantic and antitraditionalist,” also has cowriting credits on Rush’s “Force Ten,” “Between Sun and Moon” and “Test for Echo.” In 2021, Dubois was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside his longtime collaborator, Kim Mitchell.
5: Before working with Rush, Andy Richards played on U.S. No. 1 singles with which two artists?
A keyboardist and programmer, Richards worked with English band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, which reached No. 1 with “Relax” and “Two Tribes.” He also played on “Careless Whisper,” by George Michael. Richards collaborated with Rush on the 1985 album Power Windows. Geddy Lee admitted to feeling nervous about adding a fourth musician to the album, but the band quickly warmed up to Richards. Neil Peart said he particularly enjoyed “being able to sit back and produce somebody else on our music for a change.”
6: What member of the band FM appears on a track from 1982’s Signals?
FM’s Ben Mink plays electric violin on the song “Losing It.” Mink, a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer from Toronto, joined prog-rock band FM in 1977. FM opened for Rush for much of the second leg of 1981’s Moving Pictures Tour. Mink also plays on “Faithless” from 2007’s Snakes & Arrows and collaborated with Geddy Lee as a cowriter and coproducer on Lee’s 2000 solo album, My Favourite Headache.
7: What two singers did Rush consider for "Time Stand Still" before Aimee Mann?
In an interview with British music magazine Kerrang!, Alex Lifeson said of the 1987 song: “We thought about asking Cyndi Lauper at first, and then we approached Chrissie Hynde because we thought she’d be perfect. But Chrissie was unavailable at the time so we called in Aimee Mann, who was in a band called ’Til Tuesday, and she worked out really well.” As a solo artist since the early 1990s, Mann has earned six Grammy nominations with two wins, most recently for best folk album for 2018’s Mental Illness.
8: Who playted keyboards on Presto and piano on Clockwork Angels?
Jason Sniderman was a guest on both Rush albums. His father was Sam “The Record Man” Sniderman—founder of Canada’s Sam the Record Man record stores. At its height, the chain boasted more than 100 locations and was Canada’s largest recorded music retailer. The elder Sniderman was a tireless promoter of Canadian music, helping establish broadcasting requirements that led to more Canadian-made content being played on the airwaves. This helped Rush—as well as other national bands and artists—break through.
9: Who conducted the orchestra on Rush’s Clockwork Angels?
The Clockwork Angels string players worked under the baton of David Campbell. Campbell’s list of credits is long and impressive. He played viola on Carole King’s Tapestry. He also played on “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye and “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers. He’s arranged for Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, the Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Stone Temple Pilots, the Mars Volta, Beyoncé, Adele, Billie Eilish… and practically every musician who’s ever wanted use strings on their recordings. On top of that, he’s also the father of singer-songwriter Beck (born Bek Campbell).
1: Where did bassist Billy Sheehan get his start?
Sheehan (pictured below) was plucked from relative obscurity to play in David Lee Roth’s post-Van Halen band. Playing alongside guitarist Steve Vai and drummer Gregg Bissonette, Sheehan appeared on 1986’s Eat ’Em and Smile. Two years later, the Buffalo native formed Mr. Big, which opened for Rush on their 1990 tour. Sheehan admits he wasn’t a Rush fan before seeing their magnificence live each night. “I just loved the band. But more importantly, the people that are in that band are some of the finest people I’ve ever met. Kind, generous, just really wonderful.”
2: In what backing band did Kip Winger play before founding his band, Winger?
Winger played bass in Alice Cooper’s band, appearing on Cooper’s 1986 album, Constrictor, and 1987’s Raise Your First and Yell. He was bandmates with keyboardist-guitarist Paul Taylor, who went on to found Winger with him. Winger’s first two albums (1988’s self-titled debut and 1990’s In the Heart of the Young) went platinum, with seven singles hitting Billboard’s Mainstream Rock top 40. Winger himself later went on to study classical composition and has written works for orchestra and ballet. Winger also can be heard on versions of both “Limelight” and “The Spirit of Radio” on the 2005 LP An All-Star Tribute to Rush.
3: In what country was singer Sebastian Bach born?
Though he was raised in Ontario, Bach was born Sebastian Philip Bierk in 1968 in the Bahamas. Bach and his family moved to Canada when he was 3 years old. His big break came when he was singing at a wedding and his talent was noticed by Jon Bon Jovi’s parents—they put him in touch with Bon Jovi’s friend Dave “Snake” Sabo, who brought Bach into an early incarnation of Skid Row. Bach is a huge Rush fan who performs Rush covers live, has recorded several tribute covers, and appears briefly in their Canadian Music Hall of Fame induction video.
4: What band won the first two grammys for best hard rock performance?
After Jethro Tull’s controversial 1989 win for best hard rock/metal performance, the Recording Academy decided to split the category in two and create separate awards the next year. Living Colour took home the trophy for best hard rock performance in 1990 for their song “Cult of Personality,” then won again the next year for their ambitious album Time’s Up. Vernon Reid, the guitarist and main songwriter for Living Colour, is a Rush fan, and tweeted after Neil Peart died: “Rush embodied Rock & Roll in a way that transcended whether you were a fan or not—they did exactly what they wanted to do—exactly the way they wanted to do it. NO COMPROMISE. Love them—or not. RESPECT is totally due.”
5: What song earned Soundgarden their first Grammy win?
It was actually a tie. Off Soundgarden’s 1994 album, Superunknown, “Spoonman” won a Grammy for best metal performance, while “Black Hole Sun” was named best hard rock performance. Frontman Chris Cornell, who wrote both songs, referred to Rush as one of his all-time favorite bands at the 2013 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. While on tour as a solo acoustic act, he had “2112: Soliloquy” in his repertoire. And his band Audioslave, a supergroup formed with the instrumentalists from Rage Against the Machine, included Rush’s “Working Man” in its live shows.
6: What is the name of Jerry Cantrell’s publishing company?
The Alice in Chains founder publishes under the moniker Rooster’s Son. When Cantrell’s father, Jerry Sr., was a child he was given the nickname “Rooster” by his great-grandfather. Rooster is the titular character in the Alice in Chains hit single of the same name from their 1992 album, Dirt. At the 2013 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, Jerry Jr. honored Rush, saying, “You want to talk about the top level of musicianship, Rush is at the top of the list. I spent a lot of hours trying to learn the riffs to those songs, ‘La Villa Strangiato,’ ‘2112,’ ‘Fly By Night.’ Rush, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, were all really important records to me.”
7: In what movie did James Hetfield sing a song titled “Hell Isn’t Good”?
The Metallica vocalist and rhythm guitarist lends his voice to a tune that was featured in the 1999 film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. The song accompanies Kenny’s descent into Hell after being denied entry to Heaven. Though Hetfield (pictured below) wasn’t credited for his voice work, South Park cocreator Trey Parker—as well as Hetfield himself—later confirmed that it was him singing. In a 2020 interview with Guitar Player, Hetfield was asked how it felt to be considered among the greatest rhythm guitarists of all time “alongside people like Keith Richards, Pete Townshend and Malcolm Young.” Hetfield responded: “It’s awesome. I would include Alex Lifeson in there, because he’s an amazing rhythm player—although some people don’t notice.”
8: What jazz trio covered “Tom Sawyer” as part of their 2007 album, Prog?
The Bad Plus, then comprising pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson and drummer David King, were acclaimed for their unpredictable and energetic original compositions, as well as for their intense and freeform deconstructions of popular tunes. Covers of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and David Bowie’s “Life On Mars?” also appear on Prog. Their take on “Tom Sawyer” is as nuanced as it is powerful—from Anderson’s melodic leads on bass, to Iverson’s impossibly dense and reckless piano solo, to King’s cheeky reworking of the famous Neil Peart fills on his four-piece drum kit.
9: Which Rush song did Rage Against the Machine record for their Renegades album?
In 2000, Rage Against the Machine recorded a version of “Working Man” that never saw the light of day. Renegades is a 12-track album of wildly transformed covers, some bearing no resemblance to the original beyond the lyrics. According to Rage drummer Brad Wilk, who spent his formative years mimicking Neil Peart in the practice room, “[The song] wound up sounding more like Black Sabbath playing Rush.”
1: For what song was Rush nominated for their first Grammy?
“YYZ” was nominated for best rock instrumental performance in 1981, but lost to the Police’s “Behind My Camel.” Rush was not nominated again until 1992, when “Where’s My Thing?” lost to Eric Johnson’s “Cliffs of Dover” in the same category. Ultimately, Rush garnered seven Grammy nominations—six for best rock instrumental performance and one for best long-form music video (for “Beyond the Lighted Stage”)—but never took home a trophy.
2. Which two Rush albums reached No. 1 on Canada’s RPM charts?
Moving Pictures (1981) and Signals (1982) both reached the top of the RPM charts. RPM was founded in 1964 by Toronto native Walt Grealis, and ceased publication in 2000. Twelve years after RPM had folded, Clockwork Angels reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Canadian chart. In all, 17 of Rush’s 19 studio albums reached the top 20 in Canada (either via RPM or Billboard), the exceptions being their self-titled debut, which peaked at 86, and their third album, Caress of Steel, which topped out at 60.
3: Which two Rush albums reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200?
Counterparts (1993) and Clockwork Angels (2012) almost hit the top of Billboard’s album charts. Counterparts spent consecutive weeks behind Pearl Jam’s second album, Vs., and Clockwork Angels debuted at No. 2, leapfrogging Adele’s hit-laden 21, but falling short of Usher’s Looking 4 Myself. No Rush album was ever able to reach No. 1.
4: What year was Rush inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame?
Rush was the lone inductee in 1994, becoming the 19th artist to be added. The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was established by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 1978. The Hall’s first two inductees that year were bandleader-violinist Guy Lombardo and jazz pianist-composer Oscar Peterson. As of 2023, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings hold the distinction of being the only musicians inducted twice. Both were honored with the Guess Who in 1987; Bachman was inducted again in 2014 as part of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, while Cummings was inducted the second time two years later as a solo performer.
5: Before which tour was Rush honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
Four days before starting their 2010 Time Machine Tour, Rush received a star in front of the Musicians Institute on Hollywood Boulevard. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson attended the ceremony. (Neil Peart was on his motorcycle traveling to the tour’s first stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico.) Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and Donna Halper, who helped Rush break through when she was the music director at Cleveland’s WMMS-FM, introduced the band.
6: Which rock doc beat Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage for a Grammy in 2011?
When You’re Strange: A Film About the Doors won the Grammy for best long-form music video in February 2011. Still, Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage wasn’t without its accolades. The documentary won the audience award at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival, a Juno Award for music DVD of the year, and a Golden Reel Award for best sound editing.
7. Who played “2112: Overture” at Rush’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction?
Dave Grohl (below right, with Alex Lifeson) and Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters inducted Rush at the 2013 ceremony. Before Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart took the stage, Grohl played guitar, Hawkins played drums and Nick Raskulinecz played bass in a rousing rendition of “2112: Overture.” The trio donned white kimonos matching those worn by Rush on the back cover of 2112.
8: What is pictured on Rush’s commemorative Canadian postage stamp?
The “Starman” image of a naked man in front of a red star, designed by Hugh Syme for the gatefold of the 2112 album, appears on postage stamps first issued in 2013. Rush wasn’t the first musical act to get its own stamp, but it was in the first stamp series that featured bands instead of individual performers. Stamps featuring the Guess Who, the Tragically Hip and Beau Dommage were part of the same series.
9: How many Juno Awards has Rush won?
Out of 41 nominations, Rush’s tally of Juno Awards is 10—including most promising group of the year in 1975, and group of the year in 1978 and ’79. The Junos, originally called the Golden Leaf Awards, have been given out annually by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences since 1970.
This page has been viewed 1733 times since January 19th, 2024