We first learned that Rush would be releasing a 50th anniversary compilation box set back in early December when a pre-release listing (since taken down) for a Rush 50th anniversary Super Deluxe compilation set appeared on Apple Music with an expected release date of February 7, 2025. The listing included the entire tracklist but was eventually taken down. Then Classic Rock magazine's February edition hit store shelves late last month and included an extensive cover feature celebrating Rush's 50th anniversary. The article confirmed the box set was in the works, but did not include any additional details. In the weeks since the article was released, listings for the set have been slowly popping up online, revealing more details. Amazon UK briefly listed the set and included some images along with the tracklist and pricing. Then this past week uDiscoverMusic.com posted multiple listings for the set alongside a detailed description of its contents and an expected release date of March 21st. Those links lasted for about 2 days before being taken down (still available via the wayback machine though). The set will be available in three configurations; a Super Deluxe Edition listed at $466.98, a 7-LP set for $299.98, and a 4-CD set for $149.98. The Super Deluxe set includes 7 LPs and 4 CDs along with a lot of extras, including a hardcover book, lithographs for each album, and an additional 100-page hardcover graphic novel from FANTOONS:

Celebrate 50 years of RUSH with their first-ever complete career anthology. 50 tracks on 4 CDs and 7 180g LPs featuring selections from every studio, live and deluxe reissue album. Igniting the experience are the very first two singles "Not Fade Away" and "You Can't Fight It" remastered & reissued for the first time ever. The collection showcases 7 unreleased tracks including five 1974 live selections with the non-album songs "Bad Boy" and "Garden Road," a Vault Edition of "The Trees" with an alternate guitar solo, and the very last performance with Neil Peart in Los Angeles on August 1, 2015 of "What You're Doing / Working Man / Garden Road." The 104-page hardcover book features new Hugh Syme 50th anniversary artwork along with stunning new song illustrations, photos and liner notes by renowned rock journalists David Fricke and Philip Wilding. Exclusive to this Super Deluxe are 20 lithos illustrating one song from each studio album and a second 100-page hardcover book The Fullness Of Time, a brand-new graphic novel by Fantoons storytelling a conversation by Geddy & Alex reminiscing on the trials, tribulations and successes recording each studio album and how the band's sound evolved with contributions from the producers and engineers the band worked with on their studio albums. Dimensions: 12.75"h x 12.9"l x 4.2"w

Both the 7-LP and 4-CD sets include the hardcover book, but not the lithographs or FANTOONS book. As mentioned above, the set is expected to release on March 21st and you can see the full tracklist in this post.

The Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center in Charlotte, NC will be hosting Rush's Geddy Lee this coming Monday for a community commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Rush is promoting the event as a special one-off extension of Ged's My Effin' Life In Conversation book tour:

SPECIAL GEDDY LEE EVENT - JAN 27, 2025
Charlotte, North Carolina - we will see you on MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2025 at 7pm ET @ Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts & Civic Engagement for a special edition of GEDDY LEE: IN CONVERSATION from My Effin' Life presented by the Stan Greenspon Centre.

We will also have a special merch table with limited number of signed books and posters for sale, in addition to other specialty items, so get your tickets here before we are sold out!

Geddy spoke with Charlotte's WFAE 90.7 earlier this week for a short interview to discuss the appearance and share his own family's personal Holocaust story. Towards the end of the interview Geddy was asked about his late mother and whether she was a fan of Rush:

Are you kidding? She could have been our agent. My mother loved our band. Not at first, of course. She thought I was losing my marbles when we were practicing in my basement when I was about 15. But as we became more successful, she was incredibly proud and she loved to brag about us. And she even - in her little discount store in Newmarket, Ontario - she started selling records just so she could sell our records. She would sit by the radio and she would beam every time a Rush song came on.

You can read the transcript and/or listen to the 7-minute interview here, and get tickets at this location.

Legendary American filmmaker David Lynch passed away this past week at the age of 78. The filmmaker was famous for the surrealist, dreamlike qualities of his work, which includes Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway and many more. Lynch's films were a source of entertainment to Rush throughout their early touring days, and the band even had an Eraserhead poster on the wall of Le Studio as seen in this iconic photo that Geddy shared via Instagram earlier in the week:

Ode to David Lynch... we must have watched Eraserhead and Blue Velvet 30 times on our tour bus back in the day ... We quoted those films all the time .. the sensibility, the sense of humour and the outright weirdness of his artistic vision was inspiring.
RIP David Lynch and thank you.

RUSHfest Scotland will take place the weekend of May 9-11 at Drygate Brewerey in Glasgow, and more details were released this morning, including ticket links and special guests. Several Rush tribute bands from around the world will perform, including Moving Pictures (Scotland), Karol & The Snow Dogs (Brazil), Vapor Trails (Norway), The Audiorayz (Scotland), and The RFS Allstars. Special guests will include Danny Peart, Brandon Dyke, Sally and Xsenia Zivojinovich, Mike Masse, David King and others. You can get all the details and purchase tickets here.

The latest episode of the Something for Nothing podcast features an extensive interview with longtime Rush album artist Hugh Syme. You can listen to the show below or wherever you get your podcasts:

On this past week's episode of Rush Roundtable on the Rushfans YouTube channel the panel discusses literary references in Rush songs in 2 parts; Part 1 - Episode 260, Part 2- Episode 261:

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!