Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee spoke with Phil Weller of Guitar World magazine, excerpts from the column appear below.
Rush are set to hit the road for the first time since Neil Peart’s passing next month, with former Jeff Beck drummer Anika Nilles sitting in for the Professor. But while the band was still in mourning after his death, Geddy Lee says some drummers were already eying Peart’s position.
“People who are close to us – good friends that are successful drummers – would never infer something like that because they have too much respect, not only for Neil and for the situation,” Lee tells Guitar World. “They were grieving as well, so they wouldn’t be so selfish as to say something inappropriate like that.”
However, he adds that “there were many other drummers who reached out to me in the aftermath of Neil’s passing that were pushing themselves, and that was most distasteful to me. It was completely inappropriate timing.”
Read more Guitar World.