Looking Back at His Milestone Birthdays

Guitarist Alex Lifeson was grinding out the life depicted in Rush’s track “Working Man” lengthy earlier than they ever put out an album. By the point the long run Canadian rock legends received to the center a part of 1972, they had been gigging steadily, enjoying 5 to 6 nights per week.

However each band has to begin someplace. As detailed in Wandering the Face of the Earth, the indispensable official ebook which paperwork Rush’s total touring historical past, that “someplace” started on Sept. 6, 1968.

That was the day that Rush performed their first paying gig — for 25 {dollars} — in entrance of 30 individuals on the Coff-In, a dingy venue positioned within the basement of a church in Toronto. The group featured Lifeson on guitar, bassist and vocalist Jeff Jones and drummer John Rutsey. Performing a mixture of covers, together with songs by Jimi Hendrix and Cream, the lineup would not final past that preliminary efficiency.

After they performed that very same church basement per week later, the band had a brand new bassist and vocalist, one Geddy Lee, who had are available contact with Lifeson two years earlier. “We had been aliens in a category of conformity and we grew to become greatest pals,” the guitarist remembered many years later.

As soon as drummer and lyricist Neil Peart entered the image on July 29, 1974, changing Rutsey, a brotherhood was formally solidified. It lasted for 19 studio albums in a profession spanning greater than 4 many years, till Peart’s tragic passing in the beginning of 2020. Every bandmate made time for their very own particular person pursuits — with Lifeson ultimately making his first solo file, launched below the banner of Victor in 1996 — however principally, it was simply Rush.

So it is sensible that when the guitarist discovered himself considerably unexpectedly on the finish of his touring days with Rush, he wasn’t anxious to renew. “After 40 years of touring at that degree, to not point out the six years earlier than that of spending weeks in small bars and small cities, I’m not in an enormous hurry to return on the street,” Lifeson instructed UCR in 2021.

As a substitute, he is discovered nice pleasure in exploring his personal initiatives — together with a brand new band, Envy of None. A standard thread stays, nonetheless: his unmistakable guitar tone and the lifetime of innovation he is created utilizing his instrument — on Rush data and past. The music Lifeson is making lately proves that he hasn’t misplaced his curiosity for creating new sounds or his love of experimentation.

Because the guitarist turns 70 on Aug. 27, 2023, we’re having a look again at what was occurring in his profession at different milestone birthdays.

1973: Within the Starting

By the point Lifeson’s twentieth birthday arrived on Aug, 27, 1973, Rush had been already practically 5 years into their touring profession. Two days earlier, the band carried out at Toronto’s Picadilly Tube, their newest gig in what was changing into one other busy yr. Though their self-titled debut album would not arrive till 1974, the band performed over 100 exhibits in 1973, together with a memorable October 27 spot opening for the New York Dolls in entrance of 1,200 followers. “It was an outdated burlesque theater, fairly run-down and crappy,” Lifeson recalled in 2015. “However to us it would as effectively have been Wembley.”

1978: New Hemispheres

Lifeson’s twenty fifth birthday got here as Rush was finalizing their sixth studio album, Hemispheres, which might be launched that October. Recording and street work had been symbiotically relentless, nevertheless it was all paying off. They wrapped up their newest tour on Could 28, sharing the stage with openers Candy and Uriah Heep in entrance of over 20,000 individuals on the Wisconsin-area Alpine Valley Music Theatre, setting a brand new home file. They spent June and July recording the album and after a well-deserved break, had been again out on the street practically two weeks previous to the October 28 launch of Hemispheres.

Hearken to ‘The Bushes’ From ‘Hemispheres’

1983: Sending Indicators Underneath Stress

Lifeson turned 30 because the band was nearing the final a part of the touring cycle for 1982’s Indicators. A run of tour dates ended on Could 25 in Scotland they usually used the summer time of 1983 to work on songs for the forthcoming Grace Underneath Stress album. Followers witnessed 5 particular exhibits that September because the members mounted a residency at New York’s Radio Metropolis Music Corridor. With Marillion supporting, the group previewed three songs from the upcoming file stay for the primary time. It provided an embryonic take a look at what was on the horizon for Grace Underneath Stress, which was launched in April of 1984.

1988: A Present of Arms

The guitarist’s thirty fifth birthday got here near the tip of what had been an unimaginable decade for Rush, led by the success of 1981’s Shifting Footage. 4 extra albums adopted, with the band persevering with to embrace a extra keyboard-heavy route. They experimented with know-how on the live performance stage too, with their 78 date run for 1987’s Maintain Your Fireplace that includes a quadraphonic PA system. They commemorated the trek by recording their April 1988 performances in Birmingham, England for the A Present of Arms stay launch, which got here out in January of 1989.

1993: Again within the Forefront

Celebrating his fortieth birthday, Lifeson was having fun with a renewed wave of recognition with Rush. The band had been rejuvenated by the success of 1991’s Roll the Bones, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard album charts. Greater than 100 exhibits adopted on the next tour, which wrapped up in mid-1992. They spent a hefty chunk of 1993 recording the eventual Counterparts album, which arrived that October. Lifeson noticed the second as an necessary shift for the group. “I believe Counterparts was that file the place we nonetheless mixed all of these keyboards and all of that stuff that we had been going by means of on the time,” he instructed UCR in 2021. “However with the guitar again within the forefront, type of main it.”

Hearken to ‘No person’s Hero’ From ‘Counterparts’

1998: Completely different Levels

The guitarist turned 45 in 1998 with the twenty fifth anniversary of Rush approaching in 1999. It was a troublesome time for the group, as Peart confronted two tragedies: the 1997 demise of his 19-year-old daughter, Selena Taylor, who died in a automotive accident and the next cancer-related passing of his spouse, Jackie Taylor, the next June. Understandably, the band started an prolonged hiatus. They launched Completely different Levels, a 3 CD stay album, in November of 1998. Lee mirrored on the pending quarter-century milestone at the moment. “It’s sort of a miracle in a approach,” he shared throughout an interview for Canadian press. “It’s based mostly on a stable relationship, an awesome respect for one another and a want to give attention to the music and nothing else — to not permit monetary issues or persona issues to get in the best way. That’s arduous, however we’ve been in a position to do it.”

2003: 50 Years Robust

As he turned 50, the guitarist noticed his flagship group persevering with to evolve. Rush had come again robust fro their lengthy break with 2002’s Vapor Trails. Although they toured extensively that yr, the band solely performed one live performance in 2003 — nevertheless it was a excessive profile gig in assist of the then-current SARS epidemic. Rush and AC/DC had been direct assist to the Rolling Stones on July 30 in entrance of a crowd within the Toronto space which stretched near 500 thousand attendees. They returned to the street the next Could for the R30 world tour celebrating their thirtieth anniversary, whereas additionally delivering the Suggestions covers EP, which arrived in June.

2008: Fashionable Day Warrior

Lifeson’s fifty fifth birthday got here within the midst of one other busy yr for Rush. They’d spent 2007 touring in assist of that yr’s Snakes and Arrows album. As had develop into custom, it was time for an additional stay LP, 2008’s Snakes and Arrows Dwell. However this time, additionally they scheduled 49 extra concert events from April by means of late July to have fun the brand new stay set they usually additionally had some enjoyable selling the file. Lifeson, Lee and Peart made an look on The Colbert Report, enjoying “Tom Sawyer” on the Rock Band online game, scoring an unimpressive 31%. “I’m simply beginning to get a really feel for it,” the guitarist quipped. It was their first stay tv look in over 30 years. Earlier that yr, additionally they discovered time to movie a cameo within the Jason Segal / Paul Rudd comedy, I Love You, Man.

Watch Rush Play ‘Tom Sawyer’ on ‘Rock Band’

2013: Blah, Blah, Blah…

Lifeson celebrated his sixtieth birthday a number of weeks after wrapping up the Clockwork Angels tour in the beginning of August. It had been a milestone yr for the band, who lastly had been inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in April. Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins dealt with the induction honors, with Lifeson delivering an immediately memorable speech, the place he stated “blah, blah, blah” to the gang (yep, that’s it) time and again for 2 minutes. The shut of the Clockwork Angels tour introduced a much-needed break, which the guitarist instructed Billboard would final for a “minimal” of a yr. “Proper now we’re simply enjoyable,” he stated in late November. “We’re taking it straightforward and simply having fun with our present employment.”

2018: These Issues Can Occur

Lifeson’s sixty fifth birthday discovered him beginning to get pleasure from life away from the street. Rush had performed the final live performance of their fortieth anniversary tour on Aug. 1, 2015. He successfully confirmed the tip of Rush in an article printed in January of 2018 within the Globe and Mail. “It has been a bit over two years since Rush final toured,” he defined. “We’ve no plans to tour or file any extra. We’re principally executed. After 41 years, we felt it was sufficient.” Lifeson discovered loads of methods to maintain busy, nonetheless, describing that he had been “writing on 4 or 5 completely different little initiatives.” He was additionally having fun with branching out, difficult himself with tv work and writing a month-to-month newspaper column. “It’s enjoyable to place your self in an uncomfortable state of affairs,” he shared. “If in case you have a bit little bit of confidence and also you simply get out of your approach, these items can occur.”

2023: That Was Then, That is Now

As he enters his seventh decade, Lifeson continues to be making new music, although it’s not with Rush. He started writing songs a yr after the Canadian rock legends completed 2015’s R40 tour. “I do this simply to maintain myself in tune and maintain my fingers working,” he instructed UCR. “[But] as soon as I begin doing it, it grows into this different factor.” On this occasion, the songwriting led to Envy of None, Lifeson’s present band, which additionally options collaborator Andy Curran (Coney Hatch) and vocalist Maiah Wynne. Thus far, they’ve launched an album and EP in 2021 and 2023 respectively. He additionally reunited together with his longtime Rush cohort Lee in 2022. The pair first got here collectively that August for a visitor look at a live performance celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary of the animated South Park collection, performing the Rush traditional, “Nearer to the Coronary heart.”

They teamed up once more lower than a month later to play further Rush favorites on the London and Los Angeles memorial concert events for Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. Lifeson additionally continues to play on different individuals’s albums — together with Rage In opposition to the Machine’s Tom Morello, who tapped the guitarist to play on his 2021 solo album alongside Metallica’s Kirk Hammett. As for a future collaboration with Lee? You received’t discover Lifeson ruling out the chance. “We’re nonetheless very shut. We speak to one another, most likely each different day,” he shared with UCR in 2021. “He’s my best possible buddy and all the time was. That’s not going to alter.”

Watch Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee Carry out ‘Nearer to the Coronary heart’