Geddy Lee talks Rush’s 50th anniversary, TV show, and Shohei Ohtani

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Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human too?

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The Rush singer-bassist really does ask that question of other famous bassists in his new Paramount+ show of the same name now streaming.

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But the really big question is will the veteran Toronto prog-rock act, which lost drummer Neil Peart to cancer in 2000, finally record or tour again for their 50th year in 2024?

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“Of course, Rush, that band as it existed, is no more,” said Lee, 70, at a screening of his new four-episode TV show on Wednesday night in Toronto.

“So, yes, we do have a legacy that I respect and (guitarist) Alex (Lifeson) and I will be celebrating 50 years doing that. What we’ll do about it, I just don’t know yet.”

The last time Lee and Lifeson jammed together was in October 2022 at Lee’s home studio.

“It was fun,” said Lee. “It felt great. It felt very natural. We recorded a bunch of stuff. It was just a jam session. It wasn’t a song. And we looked at each other and said, ‘Yeah, I think if we want to do this again, I think we could do it again.’”

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The turning point, for many Rush fans anyway, came when Lee and Lifeson played with other drummers, including Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, at the Taylor Hawkins tribute show in London in September 2022.

“It was really quite emotional for us,” said Lee. “Obviously, it’s the first time we were playing our music without Neil. Obviously, we just lost Taylor, a beautiful person and a huge booster of ours. And the last time I saw him was at Neil’s memorial. But I think it was very important for us to understand that these songs still belong to us and there’s nothing wrong with playing them again should we ever decide to and Neil would be okay with it if we did.”

The other big question for Lee, a noted Blue Jays fan who is always spotted in his seat behind home plate at Rogers Centre, is will the team get unique pitcher-hitter Shohei Ohtani aka Shotime?

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“There’s a rumour every day and I don’t believe any of them,” said Lee. “I don’t have a lot of faith that they’ll be able to deliver Ohtani but I would really love it if they did. So I’m sending out all my positive vibes that I would like the Blue Jays front office to over reach and bring us Ohtani.”

Otherwise, in addition to the TV show, Lee’s also got a new memoir called My Effin’ Life out and a book tour including an appearance at Massey Hall on Thursday night, and just released two solo singles this week.

What seems like a burst of creativity came during the COVID years.

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“I had a lot of reflection ‘cause Neil had just passed away,” said Lee. “My mom was struggling with dementia. It was a sad time.”

The TV show came about when Toronto filmmaker Sam Dunn approached Lee about doing some kind of documentary resulting from Lee’s 2018 Beautiful Big Book of Bass in which he interviewed other bassists like Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and the Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman.

“Then my brother and I and Daniel (Richler) came up with this idea to try to disprove the stereotype about bass players,” said Lee. “That bass players are just quiet skulking guys that hang around the drum kit (puts on English accent) trying to spot chicks in the front row. So we came up with this idea that bass players are well-rounded human beings.”

Lee, who does everything from landscaping to fishing with Primus’ Les Claypool to making preserves and flying with Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, said he isn’t sure if there will be more episodes yet but he enjoyed the experience.

“We had to go through a combination of people I wanted and people that were available and also people that were up for letting me invade their lives for three days,” said Lee.

“If I had been asked as a bass player to let some other bass player into my house, (starts chuckling) I’m not so sure I would have said yes.”

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

Article content

Article content

Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human too?

Article content

The Rush singer-bassist really does ask that question of other famous bassists in his new Paramount+ show of the same name now streaming.

Article content

But the really big question is will the veteran Toronto prog-rock act, which lost drummer Neil Peart to cancer in 2000, finally record or tour again for their 50th year in 2024?

Article content

“Of course, Rush, that band as it existed, is no more,” said Lee, 70, at a screening of his new four-episode TV show on Wednesday night in Toronto.

“So, yes, we do have a legacy that I respect and (guitarist) Alex (Lifeson) and I will be celebrating 50 years doing that. What we’ll do about it, I just don’t know yet.”

The last time Lee and Lifeson jammed together was in October 2022 at Lee’s home studio.

“It was fun,” said Lee. “It felt great. It felt very natural. We recorded a bunch of stuff. It was just a jam session. It wasn’t a song. And we looked at each other and said, ‘Yeah, I think if we want to do this again, I think we could do it again.’”

Article content

Article content

The turning point, for many Rush fans anyway, came when Lee and Lifeson played with other drummers, including Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, at the Taylor Hawkins tribute show in London in September 2022.

“It was really quite emotional for us,” said Lee. “Obviously, it’s the first time we were playing our music without Neil. Obviously, we just lost Taylor, a beautiful person and a huge booster of ours. And the last time I saw him was at Neil’s memorial. But I think it was very important for us to understand that these songs still belong to us and there’s nothing wrong with playing them again should we ever decide to and Neil would be okay with it if we did.”

The other big question for Lee, a noted Blue Jays fan who is always spotted in his seat behind home plate at Rogers Centre, is will the team get unique pitcher-hitter Shohei Ohtani aka Shotime?

Article content

“There’s a rumour every day and I don’t believe any of them,” said Lee. “I don’t have a lot of faith that they’ll be able to deliver Ohtani but I would really love it if they did. So I’m sending out all my positive vibes that I would like the Blue Jays front office to over reach and bring us Ohtani.”

Otherwise, in addition to the TV show, Lee’s also got a new memoir called My Effin’ Life out and a book tour including an appearance at Massey Hall on Thursday night, and just released two solo singles this week.

What seems like a burst of creativity came during the COVID years.

Article content

“I had a lot of reflection ‘cause Neil had just passed away,” said Lee. “My mom was struggling with dementia. It was a sad time.”

The TV show came about when Toronto filmmaker Sam Dunn approached Lee about doing some kind of documentary resulting from Lee’s 2018 Beautiful Big Book of Bass in which he interviewed other bassists like Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and the Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman.

“Then my brother and I and Daniel (Richler) came up with this idea to try to disprove the stereotype about bass players,” said Lee. “That bass players are just quiet skulking guys that hang around the drum kit (puts on English accent) trying to spot chicks in the front row. So we came up with this idea that bass players are well-rounded human beings.”

Lee, who does everything from landscaping to fishing with Primus’ Les Claypool to making preserves and flying with Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, said he isn’t sure if there will be more episodes yet but he enjoyed the experience.

“We had to go through a combination of people I wanted and people that were available and also people that were up for letting me invade their lives for three days,” said Lee.

“If I had been asked as a bass player to let some other bass player into my house, (starts chuckling) I’m not so sure I would have said yes.”

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

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