Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson gave a marvelously memorable speech during the band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction earlier this year, but bassist Geddy Lee now admits that he and drummer Neil Peart suffered a few misgivings while they were at the podium.
“He didn’t tell us he was doing that,” Lee told Rolling Stone when asked about Lifeson’s speech, which consisted largely of him saying “blah blah blah” to try and convey his surprise when hearing the band had finally been selected for induction. “I know he had a whole other speech planned. Neil and I thought he had lost his marbles when he was talking. You can see the look on our faces behind him, going, ‘What the f— is he doing?’ And of course, we couldn’t see him act it all out — we just kept hearing ‘blah blah blah.’”
Things turned out fine in the end, of course. Looking back, Lee chuckled, “He’s genuinely one of the funniest people you’d ever meet in your life. But I wanted to kill him at the three-minute mark. Neil and I were threatening to knock him on the head and drag him offstage.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Lee credited the Rush documentary, ‘Beyond the Lighted Stage,’ with helping burnish the band’s critical stature after years of being seen as a cult act. “I think it showed what a vast and diverse audience we have, and the effect our music has had on young players,” he explained. “One of the criteria of the Hall of Fame is influence. I think it’s easy to see that in the film.”
Rush release Clockwork Angels on DVD/Blueray on November 18th
