Rush guitarist confirms band's retirement from touring

Last year, Rush celebrated the band’s 40th anniversary with a massive tour, R40. When wrapping, the band said the dates were “most likely be their last major tour of this magnitude.” Now, guitarist Alex Lifeson has confirmed that Rush won’t tour in the future.

“We had such a great time on the tour,” Lifeson told Rolling Stone in a new interview. “And it was really nice to go through all the material in reverse chronology, and I think our fans really enjoyed it. I think that no matter how long it would have been, it would have been too short.”

Lifeson also commented on drummer Neil Peart, who had expressed his ambivalence with touring publicly. “Neil was prepared to commit to 30 dates and he told us that right from the very beginning,” Lifeson said. “He didn’t even want to do the tour, to be honest with you. It’s been increasingly difficult for him, but he committed to the tour and we got through it. As far as he was concerned, that was the end of touring.”

According to the guitarist, Peart had trouble physically with the run: “His shoulders were hurting, his arms were hurting, his elbows, his feet, everything.”

Lifeson’s comments echo bassist-vocalist Geddy Lee’s sentiments too. Last November, he told EW, “The days of us doing long tours are probably over.”