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Our Complete List Of Rush Band Members article looks at the musicians who field one of our favorite bands. I will never forget walking into a record store in 1976 and seeing the album 2112. I never heard of the band before, but the album cover was so cool I took a chance. The rest is rock and roll history. Rush was formed in Toronto in 1968. The band initially consisted of Alex Lifeson (guitar), John Rutsey (drums), and Jeff Jones (bass guitar/vocals), with Geddy Lee replacing Jones shortly after the band’s formation. The band underwent several lineup changes, ultimately solidifying in July 1974 with Neil Peart replacing Rutsey, establishing the iconic power trio lineup of Lee, Lifeson, and Peart that would endure for the rest of the band’s career.
The band’s breakthrough came with their second album, “Fly by Night” (1975), followed by a brief period of uncertainty with the commercial failure of “Caress of Steel.” However, their fortunes revived with the release of “2112” (1976), marking the beginning of a successful era that included albums such as “A Farewell to Kings” (1977) and “Hemispheres” (1978). Rush’s popularity soared in the subsequent decades, with albums like “Permanent Waves,” “Moving Pictures,” and “Signals” achieving significant chart success in Canada, the US, and the UK.
Following a hiatus between 1997 and 2001 due to personal tragedies in Peart’s life, Rush returned to the studio and stage, releasing “Vapor Trails” (2002), “Snakes & Arrows” (2007), and “Clockwork Angels” (2012), and concluded their performance career with concerts in 2015. The band ceased activity after the R40 Tour, a decision underscored by Peart’s passing from brain cancer in January 2020. Despite Peart’s death, Lee and Lifeson have continued collaborating, including performances at significant events in 2022, with discussions of a potential Rush reunion emerging in 2023.
Rush’s music, known for its musicianship, complex compositions, and diverse lyrical themes spanning science fiction to philosophy, evolved from blues-inspired hard rock to progressive rock, with significant use of synthesizers in the 1980s, before a return to guitar-driven hard rock and a final resurgence of progressive rock with “Clockwork Angels.”
As of 2022, Rush has sold 26 million albums in the US and an estimated 42 million worldwide, earning 14 platinum and 3 multi-platinum albums in the US and 17 platinum albums in Canada. The band has received seven Grammy nominations, several Juno Awards, and an International Achievement Award at the 2009 SOCAN Awards, and has been inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (1994) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2013), reflecting their significant impact on rock music and their enduring legacy as virtuosos on their respective instruments.
RUSH BAND MEMBERS
Neil Peart
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