Ever since Neil Peart announced his retirement from drumming a few years ago, numerous rumors of the band continuing with another drummer have been floated around and quickly debunked. Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee have made it abundantly clear that they would not continue as Rush without Neil Peart. That isn't to say they wouldn't ever record new music with another drummer - they just wouldn't call it Rush. Lifeson essentially confirmed this in an interview earlier this year when he stated that, "It's been a little over two years since Rush last toured. We have no plans to tour or record any more. We're basically done. After 41 years, we felt it was enough." One name often brought up when considering drummers on par with Neil Peart that could potentially collaborate with Alex Lifeson and/or Geddy Lee is drummer Mike Portnoy. In a recent interview with Andy Burns for Biff Bam Bop!, Portnoy was asked if he has had any contact with any member of the band about playing music together at some point in the future:

... I don't think they ever will [play together as Rush without all three of them]. I honestly don't think they will. I think Rush will only ever be the three of them. Look, I get asked this a lot, and I, of course, would work with any of them in any capacity should they ever want to. And yeah, it would be an amazing thing. I've never collaborated with any of them. Neil and I have become very good friends through the years; that's a relationship that I'm so grateful for, and I've also gotten to know Alex really well. So, yeah, god, I mean, yeah, that would be amazing. I've collaborated with so many people, but I hadn't with any of those guys, so that would be amazing. But I wouldn't hold [my] breath - honestly, I really wouldn't. But they know where to find me. ...

Earlier this year Portnoy was asked about Alex Lifeson's aforementioned announcement that Rush was done in an interview with Chainsaw Symphony Radio and said the following:

... It's sad to see it end, but you've gotta respect that, because if they can't deliver, and if they are in physical pain and they can't deliver what fans wanna see, I respect that they would go out on top ... I would rather see a band like Rush go out on top and have all the good memories of what they're capable of. ...

Thanks to BlabberMouth.net for the heads up.