Rush Officially Calls It Quits in Wake of Neil Peart’s Death

Rush has officially called it quits in the wake of drummer Neil Peart’s death nearly one year ago. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, remaining members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were asked about continuing on, to which Lee replied, “That’s finished, right? That’s over.” He went on to say, “I still am very proud of what we did. I don’t know what I will do again in music.”

Lee continued, “And I’m sure [Lifeson] doesn’t, whether it’s together, apart, or whatever. But the music of Rush is always part of us. And I would never hesitate to play one of those songs in the right context. But at the same time, you have to give respect to what the three of us with Neil did together.” Lifeson chimed in, sharing that — like Lee — he has not felt inspired to play or write music since Peart’s death. “I thought, you know, ‘One day, when I’m just sitting around s—ing my pants, I’ll still want to play guitar.’ And that’s kind of gone now,” he said. Lee then added, “For the longest time I didn’t have any heart to play. I still feel there’s music in me and there’s music in [Lifeson], but there’s no hurry to do any of that.”

Rush played their final show, a sold-out concert, at the Forum in L.A., in August 2015. The band didn’t seem to say it out loud, but Less says “the conversation took place onstage… all through the show, in our eyes.” Peart appeared to understand this as well, as he came forward to the front of the stage, with his bandmates, at the end of the set. This was apparently the first time he’d done this in 40 years. “That was a beautiful moment,” Lee said.

Regarding the possibility that the band might have played together again, Rush’s longtime manager, Ray Danniels, told Rolling Stone that he believes they would have. “Do I think Neil would have done something again? Yes. He would have one day,” Danniels said. “[Something] different, whether it was a residency in Vegas or whatever. I think, yes, before the illness. That’s what stopped this thing from ever coming back.”