Rush

Rush was a renowned Canadian band that emerged from Toronto in 1968 and made waves through the 1970s to the 1990s.

Some of their most commercially successful albums include Fly by Night (1975), Hemispheres (1978), Moving Pictures (1981), Counterparts (1993), among others.

The Canadian rock band garnered a huge fan base mainly for their musicianship which was one of the most unique with complex compositions as well as fiction, fantasy, and philosophy-inspired lyrics. 

Their musical style transitioned from the blues hard rock to progressive rock in the 1970s, then back to guitar-driven hard rock following the 1980s.

The group was well recognized for their durability and confidence in their skills.

The band has had several line-up changes but the most famous one included:

• guitarist, percussionist and backing vocalist, Aleksandar Zivojinovic (Alex Lifeson)
• multi-instrumentalist Geddy Lee Weinrb (Geddy Lee)
• drummer Neil Eilwood Peart (Neil Peart)

Achievements

Though they faced certain problems during their active years, they proved resilient and earned themselves noticeable acknowledgments from several eminent and miscellaneous award shows worldwide.

The Canadian band after their debut released 19 studio albums, 11 live albums, 11 compilation albums, 33 Music Videos, 13 Video albums, 38 singles, 2 EPs, and 10 Box sets.

As of 2020, they had sold over 40 million records worldwide. They also have an estimated sale of approximately 25 million albums, earning them the spot as the 88th Best-selling band.

The group has received 14 Platinum and 3 multi-Platinum certifications in the US as well as 17 Platinum certifications in Canada.

In 2000, Rush ranked number 28 on VH1’s list of 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.

Over the years, they have received several Grammy Award nominations.

They also won 9 Juno Awards, some being Most Promising Group of the Year, Group of the Year (1978 and 1979), Artist of the Decade, and Best Hard Rock/Metal Album amongst others.

During the 2009 SOCAN Awards, they were honored with an International Achievement Award.

Rush earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6752 Hollywood Boulevard and over fifteen miscellaneous awards.

In 1994, they were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

Interesting Facts about Rush

The name of the band was playfully suggested to the group by John Rutsey’s older brother.

The band was very much loved and widely accepted in Canada. They were named “Official Ambassadors of Music” by the Canadian government.

They played their first gig at a coffee house in Ontario called “Coff-In”.

The group was exceptionally skilled in blending progressive, heavy metal, Hard rock, space rock, Geek rock, and R&B genres.

The band’s debut album was titled Working Man. It became one of the band’s best though it is often considered as an immature release in their career.

They were particularly distinct in their lyrical style. They never wrote about drugs or sex.

Alex and Geddy met in history class.

Band member Peart lost his daughter in a car accident in 1997 and his former wife to cancer a year later.

Neil Peart died of brain cancer on January 7, 2020, after being diagnosed in 2016.

Lifeson and Geddy Lee are married to their childhood friends until date.

Despite appearing to be one of the most intelligent persons in the music industry, Peart never attended any college. The famous rock drummer did not even complete high school.

Neil Peart wanted to convert the band’s 2012 album into a movie.

The original drummer John Rutsey left the band a few years after they had begun to rise due to a health condition. John had diabetes at the time and was worried about how his health would be at risk considering the unstable lifestyle of artists in Rock N’ Roll.

After years of improvement, Peart found it difficult to play the band’s old releases because of how shallow and unprofessional they were.

Their album, Moving Pictures is listed as one of the 2 albums in the “1001 Albums to Listen to Before You Die.”

The band was very loved by many but also very disliked by their critics.

Rush barely took a break from their career since their debut in 1974.

Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart and Geddy Lee are considered the power trio of Canadian rock bands.

The group disbanded in January 2018.

Popular Songs by Rush

Though Rush is no longer active as a band, their years of hard work and sacrifice is enough proof of how relevant they were and still are in the music industry. Here are some of Rush’s well-known songs:

• “2112”
• “A Farewell to Kings”
• “A Passage to Bangkok”
• “Afterimage”
• “Animate”
• “Anthem”
• “Bastille Day”
• “Between the Wheels”
• “Bravado”
• “BU2B”
• “Caravan”
• “Cinderella Man”
• “Circumstances”
• “Closer to the Heart”
• “Cold Fire”  
• “Countdown”
• “Different Strings”
• “Digital Man”
• “Distant Early Warning”
• “Double Agent”
• “Dreamline”
• “Driven”
• “Earthshine”
• “Emotion Detector”
• “Entre Nous”
• “Far Cry”
• “Finding My Way”
• “Fly by Night / In the Mood” (live medley)
• “Fly by Night”
• “Force Ten”
• “Freewill”
• “Ghost of a Chance”
• “Half the World”
• “Headlong Flight”
• “High Water”
• “I Think I’m Going Bald”
• “In the Mood”
• “Lakeside Park”
• “Lessons”
• “Limelight”
• “Lock and Key”
• “Madrigal”
• “Making Memories”
• “Manhattan Project”
• “Marathon”
• “Mission”
• “Mystic Rhythms”
• “Need Some Love”
• “New World Man”
• “Nobody’s Hero”
• “Not Fade Away”
• “One Little Victory”
• “Presto”
• “Prime Mover”
• “Red Lenses”
• “Red Sector A”
• “Red Tide”
• “Resist”
• “Return of the Prince”
• “Roll the Bones”
• “Secret Touch”
• “Show Don’t Tell”
• “Something for Nothing”
• “Spindrift”
• “Stick It Out”
• “Subdivisions”
• “Summertime Blues”
• “Superconductor”
• “Sweet Miracle”
• “Tai Shan”
• “Territories”
• “Test for Echo”
• “The Analog Kid”
• “The Anarchist”
• “The Big Money”
• “The Body Electric”
• “The Garden”
• “The Larger Bowl (A Pantoum)”
• “The Pass”
• “The Spirit of Radio” 
• “The Temples of Syrinx”
• “The Trees”  
• “The Twilight Zone”
• “The Weapon”
• “The Wreckers”
• “Time Stand Still“
• “Tom Sawyer“
• “Virtuality”
• “Vital Signs”
• “What You’re Doing”
• “Where’s My Thing?”
• “Witch Hunt”
• “Workin’ Them Angels”
• “You Can’t Fight It”
• “YYZ“