This past week both Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee checked in with fans regarding their status amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Both are safe at home and self-isolating with their respective families. On Sunday Alex posted this message via the Rush official social media channels:
Just returned from Spring Break with my gKids. We are all self quarantining for 14 days. All travellers should. Looking forward to getting caught up on Netflix!! Send your top viewing suggestions. - Alex
Then on Tuesday Geddy Lee checked in via this Instagram message:
It's been over 2 months since our soul brother Neil left us and although we continue to mourn his passing, we must now turn our gaze to the serious virus threatening all of us on the planet - a reminder of how precious life is ... I am self-isolating (with my pups) as is my family - so I urge you all to do the right thing ...social distance, trust the science, wash your hands and we will get through this...
Just returned from Spring Break with my gKids. We are all self quarantining for 14 days. All travellers should. Looking forward to getting caught up on Netflix!! Send your top viewing suggestions. - Alex
- Rush (@rushtheband) March 15, 2020
Reader RushFanForever dug up an old 2015 podcast interview with Canadian musician Mendelson Joe. He discusses touring with Rush back in the 70's beginning at about the 20:50 mark. You can give it a listen online here.
Louder.com posted their list of the 14 best music documentaries and films for music fans this past week, and Rush's Beyond the Lighted Stage film made the cut (thanks RushFanForever). LiveForLiveMusic.com posted a similar list earlier this week, and theirs also includes Beyond the Lighted Stage - they have it at #13 on their list of 25 Concert Films & Music Documentaries To Stream While You're Self-Quarantining (watch on Netflix here):
Rush re-entered music headlines earlier this year for all the wrong reasons. Drummer Neil Peart, the timekeeper of the band's complex and very carefully orchestrated compositions died from supposed brain cancer at the age of 67, leaving the band, which had already retired from performing, to close the book on one of the best runs in the history of rock. Beyond The Lighted Stage-pulled from a lyric penned by Peart-offers a wonderful history of the band which never fit into the corporate structure of arena rock in the 1970s and 80s, yet went on to carve their own path with eclectic lyrical motifs and instrumental mastery from all three members. Dive into the world of Rush with this film that was made at a time when the band was still very much a force to be reckoned with.
The April, 2020 issue of Planet Rock magazine (Issue #19) includes a tribute to the late Neil Peart written by James McNair. John at Cygnus-X1.net has transcribed/scanned the article and made it available online at this location.
Since back in January, ThatHashtagShow.com has been posting a series of articles where they cover Rush and their storied career, reviewing each of their many studio albums. They've published 9 articles so far, each covering 1 or 2 of Rush's albums, with the latest installment covering Counterparts and Test for Echo. They've also covered Rush and Fly by Night, Caress of Steel, 2112, A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures, Signals and Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows and Hold Your Fire, and Presto and Roll the Bones.
On this day back in 1994, Rush were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame by fellow inductee Tom Cochrane. Here's the video:
That's all for this week. Keep safe and healthy everyone. Stay home. (if possible) and listen to Rush.
