ALEX LIFESON Says Drummers Asked To Audition For RUSH “Within Minutes” Of NEIL PEART Dying

Legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart died on January 7, 2020 and some drummers clearly had no idea what the phrase “having an ounce of respect” means.

In an interview with Q104.3, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson said drummers began hitting up Rush about potentially filling in for Peart within minutes of the announcement of his death. Because nothing says, “I’m a huge fan of your band,” quite like asking, “hey, your best friend of literal decades died but can I fill his shoes immediately?” Idiots.

“Oh, well, yeah, of course, because we’re bombarded by it all the time. After Neil passed, it didn’t take more than a few minutes before we started getting e-mails from all kinds of drummers who wanted to audition for the band, thinking that we were just gonna replace somebody that we played with for 40 years who wrote all the lyrics for our music. I don’t know what some of these people were thinking.

Lifeson added: “So, yeah, we’ve had the conversation, because we can’t avoid it. But honestly, Ged is my best friend. I talk to him — I must talk to him every day. We get together for dinner, we play tennis, we’re doing all this charity work together. He’s my best bud, so, yeah, I go over there. He plays bass, I play guitar — yeah, we’ll play a little bit. I go over there ostensibly to play with him and we end up just sitting and drinking coffee and laughing the whole day.

“So it’s not just Rush, Rush, Rush, Rush, Rush. I have a deep loving relationship with this man, and it’s not all about creating something that we did from the past. You never know what life brings you. Right now I’m super happy doing what I’m doing. I’m engaged with a lot of musical stuff. I love being a musician. I love playing guitar. I love playing guitar so much. It’s not just a vehicle for making a living. It’s me. It’s at the core of my essence. So it doesn’t have to be about Rush or Envy Of None. I mean, I do what I do.”

As for the future of Rush or Rush-related activities, it seems like there’s a whole lotta nothing going on. Though possibly something this summer? Even though that feels like a long shot.