The future of Canadian rock legends Rush has been uncertain for a couple years now, but now, it’s official: Alex Lifeson has declared that Rush is done. In a new interview with The Globe And Mail, the guitarist said that the band has an empty calendar and is “basically done”:
“It’s been a little over two years since Rush last toured. We have no plans to tour or record any more. We’re basically done. After 41 years, we felt it was enough.”
He added that while Rush has called it quits, he’s as busy as ever, saying, “I’m writing a lot. I’m writing on four or five different little projects. I get these requests to do guitar work with other people. It’s really a lot of fun for me. It’s low pressure: I get to be as creative as I want to be and I can work a little outside of the box, which is really attractive to me.”
Lifeson also broke the news that Rush was done with touring in early 2016, saying that decision was due largely to drummer Neil Peart’s health:
“We had such a great time on the tour. And it was really nice to go through all the material in reverse chronology, and I think our fans really enjoyed it. I think that no matter how long it would have been, it would have been too short. Neil was prepared to commit to 30 dates and he told us that right from the very beginning. He didn’t even want to do the tour, to be honest with you. It’s been increasingly difficult for him, but he committed to the tour and we got through it. As far as he was concerned, that was the end of touring…his shoulders were hurting, his arms were hurting, his elbows, his feet, everything, He didn’t want to play anything less than 100 percent. He was finding it increasingly difficult to hit that mark on this last tour.”
Rush released their self-titled debut album in 1974, and ended up releasing 20 records in total. Eleven of those hit the top ten in the US and three of them went No. 1 in Canada, including their final album, 2012’s Clockwork Angels.
