One Big Change Geddy Lee + Alex Lifeson Wanted for Rush Farewell

In a new interview with Classic Rock, surviving Rush members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson reflect on what made them “disappointed” with their farewell tour and the one change they wanted to make to it.

Launched in 2015, Rush’s R40 Live: 40th Anniversary tour proved to be their last-ever. Comprised of just 35 dates, it was not the globe-trotting affair we typically see from bands of such legendary status as they bid farewell.

The North American-exclusive was something both Lee and Lifeson protested against, but were ultimately unable to coax drummer Neil Peart into committing to more shows.

“I’d pushed really hard to get more gigs so that we could do those extra shows and I was unsuccessful,” Lee tells Classic Rock, lamenting, “I really felt like I let our British and European fans down. It felt to me incorrect that we didn’t do it, but Neil was adamant that he would only do 30 shows and that was it. That to him was a huge compromise because he didn’t want to do any shows. He didn’t want to do one show.”

Lee details Rush’s last trek in his 2023 memoir, My Effin’ Life and, while he had to choose his words carefully in the book, it was his way of letting Rush fans around the rest of the world know why the band ended the way it did.

“I just kind of felt I owed an explanation to them, the audience,” the frontman adds, alluding to internal friction by saying how the farewell played out “wasn’t a straight line.”

“This is how complicated the whole world of Rush became since August 1 of 2015 until January 7th of 2020 when Neil passed. Those were very unusual, complicated, emotional times. Fans invested their whole being into our band and I thought they deserved a somewhat straight answer about what happened and how their favorite band came to end,” Lee goes on.

READ MORE: The History of Rush in 10 Songs

Lifeson chimes in, stating, “Ged and I were disappointed that Neil demanded playing only a limited number of dates which precluded a U.K. and European run. I think a dozen or so more dates would have made us a bit more accepting.”

The guitarist even suggests that they were close to a breakthrough in getting Peart to agree to more performances, “but then he got this painful infection in one of his feet.”

He says Peart was driven to the stage in a golf cart and was barely able to walk as a result of the pain. However, “he played a three-hour show, at the intensity he played every single show,” Lifeson recalls.

“That was amazing, but I think that was the point where he decided that the tour was only going to go on until that final show in LA.”

Geddy Lee’s Past Comments on Rush’s End

In late 2023, Lee spoke with BBC Radio 6 Music about his memoir and Peart’s passing. In that interview, he said it was “very difficult” to write about the drummer’s death and that he “had to be discreet but honest” about his perspective and experiences.

“My perspective is only mine; it’s not the perspective of his family, his loved ones, his daughter, etc. That’s theirs, so I had to tread carefully, but I think it was helpful for me and I think people are interested to know what – what happened between [Rush’s] final gig in 2015 and . . . Neil’s passing,” he said.

Also in late 2023, at a tour stop promoting My Effin’ Life, Lee recalled Rush’s final show.

“The last gig was odd. We played our guts out, we played our hearts out in L.A. at that show,” he said, “I asked [Peart], I said, ‘Well, would you come out and take a bow? Maybe it’ll be our last gig.’ He said, ‘No, I don’t do that. No, I don’t cross that invisible line.’ We said, ‘Okay.’ But, he did anyway, because he couldn’t resist it. He snuck out. He gave us a hug, and we took a bow together.”

Rush, “Working Man” (Aug. 1, 2015)

Lee also confessed, “I had resentment, I’ll be honest. I was resentful because I loved that tour and I wanted to bring it around the world, and [Peart] only had agreed to so many gigs and he wouldn’t bend.”