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RUSH’s Geddy Lee has offered a pointed response to critics who say the band should not be touring under that name without their late drummer, Neil Peart.
“What do you fucking call it?” Lee told Classic Rock.
“When the band ended, we said it’s only Rush with Neil in it. Which of course is true. Rush as most people know it. But, you know, over five gigs we will be playing 40 Rush songs. So what the fuck should we call it, Iron Maiden?
“We were twisting ourselves into a pretzel to try to avoid using the name that we have had for 50 years, and even before Neil came.
“It just seems silly to go on as Lee and Lifeson Present The Music Of….Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Let’s just be who we are and have been for over 50 years.”
With new drummer Anika Nilles in tow, Lee and Alex Lifeson are about to tour the US and UK.
Lee also explained why they chose Nilles to replace Peart, telling Brazilian outlet Fantastico: “Well, there’s a few reasons for that. First of all, I think Alex and I wanted to stay away from the obvious comparisons.
“When you are working with a drummer from this famous band or that famous band, it’s just too easy to make comments. You know what the Internet’s like, you know what fans could be like arguments.
“So I think what appealed to us about Anika — first of all, we were so thrilled to see how well she plays and her technical ability. And it never really occurred to us that she came from a different genre of music.
“So I think we wanted somebody fresh, someone that had a story, someone whose story would be welcomed by our fans. And I think Anika fits that bill completely.”
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