Rush (band)

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Rush is an acclaimed Canadian progressive rock band comprising bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee (formerly Gary Weinrib), guitarist Alex Lifeson (real name Alexander Zivojinovich), and drummer Neil Peart (pronounced: 'Peert') who recorded their first album in 1974. The band was formed in the summer of 1968, in Sarnia, Ontario by Lifeson, Lee, and John Rutsey (who played drums for Rush on the first album but resigned for health concerns and a distaste for touring). They soon moved to Toronto to further their career. Peart joined in 1974, to complete the present lineup.

Rush has been awarded the Juno Award (Canada's equivalent of the Grammy Award) on numerous occasions. Additionally, Lee, Lifeson, and Peart are all Officers of the Order of Canada.

File:Rush30thanniversary.jpg
From left to right: Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart and Geddy Lee.
(30th Anniversary tour photo 2004)

History

The "starman" logo of Rush first appeared on the back cover of 2112. Neil Peart explained in 1982, "All it means is the abstract man against the masses. The red star symbolizes any collectivist mentality." The symbol (or at least a variation on it) was used as the kick drum logo by Barenaked Ladies for their Disc One tour.

The original lineup of Rush formed in September 1968. It consisted of Jeff Jones (Bass and Lead Vocals), John Rutsey (Drums and Backing Vocals) and Alex Lifeson (Guitars and Backing Vocals). Their first gig was a coffee house named The Coff-In. After this gig the band realised that they would need a name. They all met in Rutsey's basement to think of one but none could think of any ideas. Rutsey's older brother suggested the name Rush and the band agreed that it would become their name. In September 1968, Jones was replaced by a man who was, at the time, named Garry Lee Weinrib. Weinrib changed his name to Geddy Lee because he liked his Grandmother's Yiddish way of saying his name. In January of 1969, Lindy Young joined the band as a keyboardist and rhythm guitarist. The band's name was soon changed to Hadrian. In May 1969, Lee quit the band and started his own one with the name Ogilvie. Joe Perna filled Hadrian's vocalist/bass player vacancy. In June 1969, Lee changed his band's name from Ogilvie to Judd. Young left Hadrian in July 1969 to join Judd and Hadrian soon split up. Judd also split up in September 1969. Soon after the split-up of Judd, Lee, Lifeson, and Rutsey joined as a band again and re-adopted the original name, Rush. In February 1971, Mitch Bossi joined Rush as a 2nd guitarist but left three months later because of disinterest in the band.

As time has passed, Rush's musical style has changed substantially. Their debut album is somewhat derivative of the British rock band Led Zeppelin, but over the first few albums their style progressed eclectically, influenced by the British progressive rock movement in particular, but maintaining a hard rock ethos at its core. The lyrics of that time were heavily influenced by classical poetry and literature, science fiction and, in a few cases, the writings and philosophy of Ayn Rand, as exhibited most prominently by 1975's Anthem (named after Rand's novel) and 1976's 2112. Many of their early songs received limited airplay because of their extended length (in some cases exceeding ten minutes); one notable exception was the 3-minute "Closer To The Heart" from their 1977 album A Farewell To Kings, which was played widely on Canadian radio.

1980's Permanent Waves changed things dramatically. Rush felt they had taken the long-form song format as far as they could or wanted, and began to opt for shorter songs that still retained their trademark musicianship and complexity. Although a hard rock style was still evident, more and more keyboards were introduced. Lyrical themes changed markedly, beginning to rely much less on science-fiction imagery. Lengthy songs did make a few final appearances in this period, in the form of Jacob's Ladder, Natural Science and The Camera Eye. It should be noted, however, that many of the band's songs would continue to clock in at five or six minutes, still just outside of mainstream music convention.

At this point, Rush began to receive frequent airtime on rock radio stations. As a result, Permanent Waves cracked Billboard's Top 10 and went platinum. One song in particular, "The Spirit of Radio" (named for the Toronto-local groundbreaking radio station, CFNY), went on to become a huge hit on the alternative circuit.

File:RTBgroup.jpg
Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush.
(Roll The Bones tour photo 1992)

Rush's popularity hit its zenith with the release of Moving Pictures in 1981. The lead track, "Tom Sawyer", is the band's best known song, and Geddy Lee has referred to it as "the quintessential Rush song." Moving Pictures shot up to #3 on the Billboard Album Chart and has been certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "Tom Sawyer" can be heard frequently on American classic rock stations to this day. From that point on, their albums of the 1980s tended to incorporate more keyboards and stuck to the style that began with Permanent Waves, such that their recordings in the later 1980s and early 1990s are markedly different from their earlier work. After the "synthesizer period" of 1982-1991, the band largely dropped synthesizer-style keyboard sounds from their studio recordings in favor of more organic keyboard sounds such as strings and organ. This transition, coupled with a return of more heavily guitar-driven songs, began with the well-received 1993 album Counterparts.

Each of the three individual artists has produced and released work independent of the band's structure, to varying degrees of commercial and critical success.

After 1996's Test for Echo, the band entered a six-year hiatus due mainly to personal tragedies in Peart's life. Peart's daughter Selena died in a car accident in August 1997, followed by his wife Jacqueline's death from cancer in June 1998. Peart embarked on a self-described "healing journey" by motorcycle in which he travelled thousands of kilometers across North America. He subsequently wrote about his travels in his book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. Rush later said that they came very close to disbanding during this period.

The band returned in 2002 with the surprisingly heavy, modern and progressive Vapor Trails album. The album contains the song "Ghost Rider", describing Peart's "self-healing" motorcycle journey after the tragic death of his daughter in 1997 and his wife in 1998. It debuted to moderate praise and was supported by the band's first tour in six years, including first-ever concerts in Mexico City and Brazil, where they played to some of the largest crowds of their career.

The band was one of a number of hometown favourites to play the SARS relief concert (dubbed SARStock) at Downsview Park in Toronto in August 2003, with an attendance of over half a million people. Also in 2003, Alex Lifeson appeared in the highly successful Canadian mockumentary Trailer Park Boys. Rush also played for CBC's 2004 tsunami relief telethon, along with Ed Robertson (of the Barenaked Ladies) and Mike Smith (Bubbles) from Trailer Park Boys.

A live album, Rush in Rio, was released in late October 2003. The DVD which it accompanied won the 2004 Juno for best music DVD. June 2004 saw the release of Feedback, a studio EP featuring eight covers of such artists as Cream and The Who. In the summer of 2004, Rush again hit the road for a very successful 30th Anniversary Tour, playing dates in the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. According to a May 2005 interview with Lee, the band plans to go back into the studio to record a new album beginning in late 2005.

Rush was nominated for a Best Rock Instrumental Performance Grammy Award in 2005 for Neil Peart's drum solo, “O Baterista” (portuguese for The Drummer) from the album Rush in Rio, but lost to Brian Wilson's "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow". The band has so far had three Grammy Award nominations, all for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

File:Rush2.jpg
Neil Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush.
(Portraits by Hugh Syme, 2002)

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Debate

The members of Rush have themselves noted that people "either love Rush or hate Rush", resulting in strong detractors and an intensely loyal fan base. Despite having completely dropped out of the public eye for five years following Peart's loss of his wife and daughter, and the band's being relegated almost solely to classic rock stations in the U.S., the 2002 Vapor Trails release shot up to #6 on the Billboard Chart in its first week of release. The subsequent Vapor Trails tour grossed over $24 million and included the largest audience ever to see a Rush show - 60,000 fans in São Paulo. The following year, the band released Rush in Rio, which the RIAA has certified gold, marking the fourth decade in which a Rush album had been released and certified at least gold.

It is not surprising that Rush's loyal fanbase was on the whole not pleased to learn that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had passed over Rush for induction in 1999 - Rush's first year of eligibility. The band has not been nominated since, calling the Foundation's requirements for induction into question for some, who wonder what qualifies an artist or band for the Hall of Fame; is it years of musical excellence and pioneering work, high record sales and fan popularity, or the approval of music critics?

Another factor which some feel should be considered is that Rush has influenced countless musicians and bands, including Dream Theater, Iron Maiden, Metallica, The Manic Street Preachers, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Primus.

Band Members

Discography

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Rush has produced numerous albums over the course of three decades.

Official studio albums

Other studio records

Official live albums

Official videos

  • Exit..Stage Left (VHS, Laserdisc, DVD)
  • Grace Under Pressure Tour (VHS, Laserdisc)
  • A Show of Hands (VHS, Laserdisc, DVD)
  • Chronicles (VHS, DVD)
  • Rush in Rio (DVD)
  • R30: Rush Live in Frankfurt (DVD) November 2005

Compilations/interviews

Solo efforts of band members:

Books

  • Rush: Visions: The Official Biography – Banasiewicz, Bill. (1988), Omnibus Press – ISBN 0711911622
  • Rush: Success Under Pressure – Gett, Steve. (1984) – ISBN 0895242303
  • Rhythm & Light – Nuttall, Carrie, (2005), Rounder Books, ISBN 1579400930
  • Drum Techniques of Rush – Peart (1985) – ISBN 0769250556
  • More Drum Techniques of Rush – Peart, Wheeler (1989) – ISBN 0769250513
  • The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa – Peart (1999) – ISBN 1895900026
  • Ghost Rider (book)|Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road – Peart (2002) – ISBN 1550225464 (hardcover), ISBN 1550225480 (paperback)
  • Traveling Music: Playing Back the Soundtrack to My Life and Times – Peart (2004) – ISBN 1550226649
  • Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away – Popoff, Martin. Publisher: Ecw Press (June 28, 2004) – ISBN: 1550226789
  • Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush – Price, et al. (1999) – ISBN 1587151022
  • Rush Tribute: Merely Players – Telleria, Robert (2002) – ISBN 1550822713
File:R30neil.jpg
Neil Peart
(30th Anniversary tour photo 2004)
File:R30alex.jpg
Alex Lifeson
(30th Anniversary tour photo 2004)
File:R30geddy.jpg
Geddy Lee
(30th Anniversary tour photo 2004)

Awards list

Rush has received many awards during their career.

Juno awards

Rush has been awarded the following Juno awards:

  • 1974 Most promising group of the year
  • 1977 Group of the year
  • 1978 Group of the year
  • 1991 Best Heavy Metal Album
  • 1991 Best album cover - Presto
  • 1992 Best Hard Rock Album
  • 1992 Best album cover - Roll the Bones
  • 2004 Music DVD of the year - "Rush in Rio"

Grammys

  • 1982 nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
    • "YYZ" -- lost to The Police's "Behind My Camel"
  • 1992 nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
    • "Where's My Thing" -- lost to Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover"
  • 1995 nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
    • "Leave That Thing Alone" -- lost to Pink Floyd's "Marooned"
  • 2004 nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
    • "O Baterista" from Rush In Rio -- lost to Brian Wilson's "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow"

Magazine awards

Alex
  • 1983 - "Best Rock Talent" - Guitar for the Practicing Musician
  • 1984 - Best Rock Guitarist - Guitar Player Magazine
  • 1991 - Inducted into the Guitar for the Practicing Musician Hall of Fame
Geddy
  • Bass Hall of Fame - Guitar Player Magazine
  • 6 time winner: "Best Rock Bass" - Guitar Player Magazine
  • 1993 - "Best Rock Bass Player" Bass Player readers' poll
Neil

From Modern Drummer magazine reader's polls:

  • Hall of Fame: 1983
  • Best Rock Drummer: 1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985
  • Best Multi-Percussionist: 1983,1984,1985,1986
  • Best Percussion Instrumentalist: 1982
  • Most Promising New Drummer: 1980
  • Best All Around: 1986
  • 1986 Honor Roll: Rock Drummer, Multi-Percussion
(As a member of the Honor Roll in these categories, Neil is no longer eligible for votes in the above categories.)
  • Best Recorded Performance:
    • 1981: Moving Pictures
    • 1982: Exit... Stage Left
    • 1983: Signals
    • 1985: Grace Under Pressure
    • 1986: Power Windows
    • 1988: Hold Your Fire
    • 1989: A Show of Hands
    • 1990: Presto
    • 1992: Roll The Bones
    • 1993: Counterparts

RIAA platinum certifications

  • Fly by Night
  • 2112 - 3x
  • All the World's A Stage
  • A Farewell to Kings
  • Hemispheres
  • Permanent Waves
  • Moving Pictures - 4x
  • Signals
  • Power Windows
  • Exit...Stage Left
  • A Show of Hands
  • Chronicles - 2x
  • Roll the Bones
  • Chronicles - (video)
  • Rush in Rio - (video) 4x
  • Archives

See also


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