In a new interview with Craig Charles of BBC Radio 6 Music, RUSH bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee was asked if writing about drummer Neil Peart‘s death was “a difficult part” of his memoir, “My Effin’ Life”, to write.
He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Oh, it was very difficult. And I had to be discreet, but honest about my perspective. My perspective is only mine; it’s not the perspective of his family, his loved ones, his daughter, et cetera. 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 happened between [RUSH‘s] final gig in 2015 and Neil‘s passing [in 2020]. So I did my best to be honest and respectful of what Neil would have okayed me to talk about and to paint the portrait of what a brave person he was through all the difficulties of those last few years and how he always would say, ‘Mustn’t grumble.’ And he still was very much a thinker right up to the end. So I tell these stories. I share some of the conversations, some of the e-mails we sent back and forth to each other during a very troubling time. And I hope fans understand that in a way, it’s my homage to him and the 40-plus years we spent working, laughing and loving together, I guess you could say.”
Asked if there was “a falling out” with Neil after RUSH played its final concert in 2015 or if the band was “just on a hiatus” and they were going to get back together again, Geddy said: “Well, [Neil] retired in 2015. And that was a hard and bitter pill for Alex [Lifeson, RUSH guitarist] and I to swallow. Even though Alex was having health issues of his own, he still wanted that last tour to go on longer, as did I. We were very proud of the ‘R40’ tour, and I especially wanted to bring it to the U.K., ’cause we have so many good fans there, and to Germany and to Holland, where we have some really diehard fans, but [Neil] had only agreed to do 30 shows, and we had to honor that agreement. ‘Cause he wasn’t gonna do any shows before that tour, and he acquiesced. Of course we held out hope that he’d change his mind and he was having so much fun that he would say, ‘Oh, come on. We’ll do another 20 gigs.’ But wasn’tmeant to be.”
Lee continued: “[Neil] was having a few health problems of his own in a different way. And I think that sealed the deal for him. And so at the very last gig, we were quite divergent in our moods. There was a dressing room that Neil was in that was ebullient and happy that he was about to retire and enter this other phase of his life with his wife and his young daughter. And then you had Alex and my dressing room where we were kind of down in the dumps because we knew this could be the very end of our band. So it was conflicting emotions during that period of time. And, of course, it was only a year later that [Neil] was diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer. And, of course, none of that mattered anymore. That was a moot point then.”
Geddy kicked off his “My Effin’ Life In Conversation” tour on November 13 at The Beacon Theatre in New York. The trek sees the RUSH singer/bassist bring to life “My Effin’ Life”, which came out on November 14 via HarperCollins. Produced by Live Nation, the 14-city tour is making additional stops across North America before wrapping up in Toronto at Massey Hall on December 7.
