RUSH Singer GEDDY LEE - “We Would Get High With ACE FREHLEY In His Hotel Room And Make Him Laugh”

In a new interview with Rolling Stone Australia, Rush drummer Neil Peart discuss, among other topics, the “art of no compromise”….

In their early years, opening for practically every major band of the 1970s, Peart and his bandmates – singer-bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson – were disturbed by what the drummer would later describe as the “sound of salesmen”.

“We would hear them give the same rap to the audience every night,” says Peart. “‘This is the greatest rock city in the world, man!’ That was creepy. I despise the cynical dishonesty.” They did get along with the guys in KISS. “We would get high with Ace Frehley in his hotel room and make him laugh,” Lee recalls, “and they were a really good influence on us in terms of learning to put on a show.”

They were taken aback, however, by Gene Simmons’ and Paul Stanley’s unabashed view of KISS as a product. “I don’t want to knock them,” says Peart. “But once I was in a little restaurant in Kansas, and a guy with KISS Army tattoos kept playing KISS songs on the jukebox. He believed in a marketing campaign, swallowed it as religion. He was like a convert to Scientology.”

Ultimately, Peart wants the freaky, purist kid he once was to be proud of him. “It’s about being your own hero,” he says. “I set out to never betray the values that 16-year-old had, to never sell out, to never bow to the man. A compromise is what I can never accept.”

Read more at Rolling Stone Australia.

Fans of iconic Canadian rock band Rush recently enjoyed some unique opportunities to own a piece of the band’s history – all to benefit cancer research. In exchange for a small donation, fans posed for pictures behind legendary drummer Neil Peart’s one-of-a-kind, Collector’s Series Drum Workshop (DW) hockey-themed drumset on select dates of the band’s highly successful R40 Live Anniversary Tour. In addition, fans were able to bid on museum-worthy, autographed Rush memorabilia on eBay including a Sabian Paragon Cymbal and a limited edition, DW R40 Icon Snare – both of which were autographed by Rush. Donations from the hockey kit photo opportunities and the auction items raised a total of $25,547.28 CDN to benefit Rush drummer, Neil Peart’s charity of choice The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation in Toronto. Additional sponsors included The Sports Network (TSN) and Hockey Hall of Fame.

“These fundraising efforts – which included the creativity and hard work of several companies in order to bring to fruition – were very important to The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. Not only did they bring a substantial amount of funding for cancer research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, but it took our vision of conquering cancer in our lifetime to thousands of Rush fans. Sincere thanks to all those involved with the creation and execution of this promotion, and to all the Rush fans who contributed to our work by getting a great souvenir photo, or by bidding on the Rush items. Special thanks to Neil Peart and his bandmates for their extreme generosity,” said Kevin Shea, director of public relations, The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.

This marks the second time Peart’s iconic DW “Hockey Kit” has been used to raise money for cancer research. Created for Peart in DW’s custom shop in 2009, it featured airbrushed, lacquer graphics of 30 NHL logos and custom, ice blue hardware. The kit was seen weekly by millions of hockey fans in the opening sequence of “Hockey Night in Canada” on TSN and used in the recording of Peart’s percussion-focused rendition of The Hockey Theme which was sold on iTunes with a portion of proceeds benefitting Hockey Fights Cancer.

Since 2010, the Peart’s legendary DW “Hockey Kit” has been displayed in the Hockey Hall of Fame alongside the Stanley Cup. After the conclusion of the Rush R40 tour, the kit will make its final stop in Calgary, where it will permanently reside at Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre, and join over 2,000 artifacts in NMC’s collection, which represent the history of music technology and tell the story of music in Canada.