When Rush's Alex Lifeson appeared on stage a couple of times with his lifelong bandmate Geddy Lee, as part of two of the presentations for Lee's recent book tour, the buzzing around a possible musical reunion of the two increased hundred-fold among Rush's fanbase. The two musicians have appeared in several interviews recently, and while the prospect of collaboration remains possible, there's no time frame about when or if will ever happen.
Now, in a recent interview with Greg Prato of Ultimate Guitar, Lifeson discussed the possibility of working with Lee again, but made something really clear: it wouldn't be Rush without their late drummer, Neil Peart.
"It's not like we need to go back to something. And that's my fear. That if we — that would be the expectation, this is like Rush 2. But by necessity, it has to be something different. And it can never be Rush. Without Neil, it can never be Rush. That's it. It's over. But you never know what can happen. So we'll see."
When asked about the chances of writing new music with Lee, Lifeson acknowledged the fan buzz surrounding a potential collaboration, and left a glimmer of hope in the air: "Um, I don't know. Ask him. I don't know. There's certainly a lot of interest in us doing something. I think a lot of Rush fans, they've been hoping for… Geddy had his book tour. I went out on a few of those dates with him. I think that's kind of sparked more interest in us working together."
"Ged's a very busy guy. He's written a couple of books over the years. He has a lot of stuff that he's into. This is my studio in my apartment. I've been working on the Envy Of None stuff as well as a few other projects. So I've been playing and recording for all these years." he added.
Lifeson also emphasized that they're both content in their lives and that any future project wouldn't be driven by necessity, but rather by creative spark: "When he's ready, he always says, 'Come over for a coffee and we'll go down to the studio and bash around a few notes.' Yeah, call me. And so far he's been so busy, but I think maybe in the new year — or this is the new year — maybe soon we'll find the time to sit down and see what happens. Maybe nothing happens. Maybe it's not there anymore. Maybe it's gonna be amazing. I don't know. We'll see. Honestly, it's not a priority for us. We're happy in our lives."
The future of what Lee and Lifeson might do together remains unwritten. Yet even in the ever-present shadow of Peart's absence, the creative spirit of these two musical giants continues to spark, offering a potential glimmer of new sonic adventures – albeit under different monikers – for Rush fans, old and new, to embrace.
