Rush's Alex Lifeson Not Interested in Tour But Open To Working With Geddy Lee

Michael Angulia | 01-11-2024

Alex with the Alex Lifeson Epiphone Les Paul Custom Axcess

Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson says in a new interview that he has no interest in touring again, but although they have no current plans, he is open to working with his Rush bandmate Geddy Lee again.

Lifeson made the comments during an appearance on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk. He was asked if there was a chance of him returning to the road with Lee or his current project Envy Of None.

He responded, "So, 40 years of touring, I'm not interested in touring anymore. I enjoyed it when we did it. There were lots of ups and downs. The gig is great, the show is great, and for the other 21 hours in a day, you're just waiting for those three hours, and it gets tiring, especially when you have a family and you have loved ones at home that you're estranged from for months and months and months at a time. I don't miss that aspect of it.

"Do I like playing in front of people? Yeah. I still like that, maybe not to the point where I have to do it. But when we did the Taylor Hawkins benefits and we did the South Park thing in Denver, and I do these Christmas shows with Andy Kim and lots of great musicians that I get to play with, then it's fun. I really enjoy that, and it's controlled, and it's great. To make a big deal and do a tour and get back into that thing, I don't really have an interest in that.

"I know Ged would like to play again and he would like to spend some time writing. But beyond that, honestly, we haven't talked about anything beyond just getting together and having a coffee and just bashing out a few notes. He has a lot of stuff in his life. He's a very busy person. He's really enjoying this phase of being an author. He's on the go, go, go, go all the time. And I'm here, and I'm playing on all these different projects.

"So, in a way, I've continued being that musician, and he's gone off to do other things. So, whenever he's ready, like usual, I only live five minutes away from him, like we have all our lives. I go over and hang out and we'll turn the recorder on and do some stuff, but there's no plan for a tour. There's no plan for anything.

"And I know rumours get started and people have their desires and lots of people would love to see us get back and play again. Well, I don't know. I don't know. Who knows? Maybe if we're together, we're messing around and we get excited. Certainly after we did those gigs, it was quite heady and very exciting.

"But I really love my life right now, and I don't know if I'm gonna disrupt it by being away from the things that I'm really enjoying, for any reason."