Rush’s music expands beyond just progressive rock.
Geddy Lee prides the band’s appeal as overarching, saying that they are the world’s most popular cult band.
That doesn’t mean that every band member has time for fans.
While Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine was a fan, he thought that both Lee and Alex Lifeson were fantastic saying,
“I was such an over the top Rush fan, I met Geddy and Alex, and they couldn’t have been cooler. I spent all this time talking to Geddy.”
When it came time to meet drumming legend Neil Peart, though, Commerford felt the vibe in the room change saying,
“They showed me to a room. I immediately became a superfan. Saying ‘Hey I’m the hugest fan of your music.’ And I got the Neil Peart cold shoulder and the security guard removed from the room. It was a weird, uncomfortable situation. I love Neil Peart even though he totally blacklisted me. But I’m like ‘if I was Neil Peart and I saw me talking to him, I would probably want to remove me too.'”
Although Peart was cold and calculated, he mentioned that he freaks out when meeting die-hard fans saying,
“I never dreamed of finding my favorite band’s hotels or interfering in their lives in any way. I love being appreciated. Being respected is awfully good, but anything beyond that just freaks me out. Any sense of adulation to me is just so wrong.”
Commerford wasn’t the only one to see Peart’s attitude change.
When Jack Black met Rush, he saw a similar vibe from Peart saying,
“What struck me was by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson’s friendship. Just seemed like there was a lot of joy there, like genuine fun. Then I looked over at Neil. He was just as focused but had a brewing intensity, with subtle wisps of darkness.”
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