Rush fans have been yearning for the band’s surviving members, guitarist Alex Lifeson and frontman Geddy Lee, to perform together again. While it’s unclear whether that will happen, Lifeson did reunite with his bandmate and friend in December at three of Lee’s book-tour events promoting his 2023 memoir, My Effin’ Life.
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In an interview this week on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk, Lifeson said it was an easy decision for him to agree to take part in Lee’s book tour appearances.
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“Doing these shows with him was a no brainer,” Lifeson shared. “Because basically I just sat on a stage with him doing the stuff that we’ve been doing for 50 years, in the back of a car or in an airplane or on the bus. We’re best of friends, and so it was just getting up and riffing and laughing and goofing around, just like we always have.”
Lifeson appeared at two events in the U.K., in Portsmouth and London, and as well as at the tour finale in his and Lee’s hometown of Toronto. The 70-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer said he felt the events helped give closure to fans hoping for some kind of Rush reunion, while noting that the attendees in Toronto were particularly enthusiastic.
“The audience in Toronto was like just being in a room with a bunch of friends, and I think that’s the way they felt,” Lifeson said. “A lot of people didn’t feel they had closure after we finished the last tour. And I think this is a way of giving them a little bit. To see that everything’s OK, and we’re still friends and together and doing stuff together, and having the same kind of wonderful experiences that we’ve always had.”
Lee’s Book Was “a Beautiful Read”
Host Eddie Trunk also asked Lifeson whether he had read Lee’s memoir, and, if so, what he thought of it.
Lifeson revealed that he’d read “the first edited version” of My Effin’ Life, which was a little longer than the published version. He noted that Lee had wanted him to “corroborate some of his memories, as well as [to] make sure I was OK with him talking about our relationship the way he did.
Lifeson said he had no issue with what Lee wrote, although he did find some incidents where their recollections differed. As for what he thought of the book, well, he loved it.
“I laughed out loud so many times, I cried, I was mesmerized,” Lifeson enthused. [I]t really is a beautiful read. … [I]t has a really beautiful flow to it. It’s very easy to read and it’s the kind of book you can’t put down.”
Whether Lifeson Wants to Write His Own Book
Trunk also asked Lifeson if he’d want to write his own memoir, to which the guitar great responded, “Are you kidding? No way! I saw what [Geddy] went through. This was a lot of work for him, and it drove him crazy.”
Lifeson added, “If I was to do a book, it would be very short and it would just be funny stuff.”
When Trunk encouraged him to do just that, Lifeson warmed to the idea.
“[T]hat’s something to think about,” he said. “Actually, that would be kind of fun. It would be fun to put together too. Maybe I will.”
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