Paul McCartney tried to persuade Geddy Lee and Rush bandmate Alex Lifeson to tour collectively once more.
The dialog occurred in September 2022, when all three basic rockers have been performing as a part of the Taylor Hawkins tribute live performance in London. It was head Foo Fighter Dave Grohl who made the preliminary introduction.
“Dave was so candy,” Lee recalled throughout a dialog with Rolling Stone. “He comes as much as us at rehearsal and he goes, ‘Paul McCartney’s up subsequent to rehearse, and he’s exterior, and he stated to me, ‘Dave, I’ve by no means met anybody from Rush earlier than.’”
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McCartney quickly entered and commenced chatting with the opposite musicians. “He’s only a very beautiful man. A really constructive individual,” Lee famous, earlier than including that he didn’t assume the Beatle was very conversant in Rush’s music.
“I obtained the sense he knew who we have been and had heard about us. He had by no means listened to us,” the bassist defined. “So on the present, he was there. He watched the set. I feel he was actually curious as a result of folks most likely had talked about us to him.”
McCartney Informed Lee and Lifeson to ‘Get Again Out There’
After the live performance, McCartney, Lee and Lifeson spent extra time collectively, at which level the Beatle made his pitch to get the Rush rockers again on the street.
“After the present, he was unimaginable. He was so heat and embracing and constructive. He got here and sat and drank with us. All of us obtained plastered collectively,” Lee recalled. “And he was very emphatic, speaking about, ‘You understand what Ringo all the time says: ‘It’s what we do.’”
Lee’s response was to show the eye on his bandmate.
“I stated, ‘Speak to Al, as a result of he’s the cussed one.’ And so he was lecturing Al about how nice it’s to tour. ‘You need to do it, man. You need to get again on the market, man.’ And Alex stated one thing like, ‘I’ll do it, for those who’ll be our supervisor.’ [To which McCartney responded] ‘I’ll handle you, mate!’”
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Rush known as it quits in 2020 following the dying of Neil Peart. Lee and Lifeson declared they might not proceed with out their drummer, however McCartney — who has actually handled losses of his personal over time — tried to get them to rethink. Lee confessed that Macca’s phrases caught with him.
“It was actually enjoyable, actually humorous, however he had a degree,” the Rush rocker defined. “That’s the way in which he seems at life. He’s ageless as a result of he actually, really believes he was born to do that. That’s what you do. And also you simply do it. You don’t query it. And I feel all of us typically neglect that.”
Lee has since revealed that he’d be open to performing as Rush alongside Lifeson as soon as extra, although he cautioned “it is all hypothetical” in the intervening time.
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Gallery Credit score: Ryan Reed