Geddy Lee noted that the sad loss of Neil Peart meant that Rush would never be back again in its true form, the idea of seeing its two surviving members making and playing music together again is so appealing that Geddy’s recent statements might have led to unreasonably high hopes for it to happen.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in a new interview, spoke about Alex’s “stubborn” reluctance to get back on the road, Geddy said:
“He has some health issues, he has arthritis as well. It’s harder for him to reproduce those solos in the way that he wants to. But he was also never super happy in the last few tours on the road. I think that’s why he played so much golf, because he gets bored so quickly. For me, I would hole up in my room and I would work on photo albums, like I would play with my bird photography.”
“So I was occupied. I’m quite happy because I knew that I had to stay quiet. I couldn’t talk. So all day long I would work on my photo books and my photography. And in the evening I would meet Al after he’s played 14 rounds of golf. And we would have dinner and drink too much wine. And then the next day was gig day. But I think being away and touring is more difficult for him to be happy. So that’s a stumbling block and at this stage of his life, considering that he has some concerns about his health, it’s very hard for him to get his head around the idea of doing a tour, you know. So I just keep working on him.”
Geddy further noted how wishful thinking might have exaggerated some of his recent statements about the possibility of playing as Rush again:
“I don’t know if that’s 100 percent true. I don’t know how comfortable we would be doing that, calling ourselves Rush, and it’s all speculation because… Honestly, it’s unlikely to happen. That’s a conversation for probably another time, but we might not be super comfortable. But we could always call ourselves some other stupid name, or Rash. [Laughs]”
He said Paul McCartney told Rush to reunite after Taylor Hawkins’ tribute show, “After the show, he was incredible. He was so warm and embracing and positive. He came and sat and drank with us. We all got plastered together. And he was very emphatic, talking about, ‘You know what Ringo always says: ‘It’s what we do.’ And I said, ‘Talk to Al, because he’s the stubborn one.'”
