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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: To some,
they are rock gods, to
others, a trio of nerds.

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From the 1970s to the 2000s,
the Canadian band Rush achieved
huge success, driven by their

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virtuosity and eclectic, lyrical
songwriting. After the death
of drummer Neil Peart in 2020,

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lead singer and bass player
Geddy Lee stepped away
from the stage. But he

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has returned now in
a spoken word tour to
accompany his new memoir.

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Lisa Desjardins spoke
with him for our arts and
culture series, Canvas.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Their sound was
hard to label. For 40 years, the
band Rush refused to blend in,

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becoming rock legends with
hard work, 24 gold and
14 platinum albums, and
touring nearly every year.

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Their songs about power and
identity were unusual then,
rock anthems about teen mental

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health and even A.I. But
they are now taking on
new meaning. And their
lead singer, Geddy Lee,

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is doing something new,
pausing to look back with
his memoir, "My Effin' Life."

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I asked him about the
band, virtuosos. Some
call Neil Peart the best
rock drummer in history,

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and "Rolling Stone" has
listed Lee on the bass and

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Alex Lifeson on guitar as among
the best on those instruments.

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You all spent your life
not just being good,

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but trying to reach the sort
of unfathomable level of
quality. Why push so hard?

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GEDDY LEE, Author, "My Effin'
Life": Why? It's just in my
nature, I think. And I think

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my partners share that trait
of wanting to do whatever it is
we do as best as we can do it.

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LISA DESJARDINS: In music
and message, Rush's songs
often bolster underdogs and

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attack toxic power, from high
school cliques to fascists,
meaningful to Lee especially.

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You also write in the book
how both of your parents
survived Nazi concentration

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camps. I want to ask you.
There's an intense debate
right now about hate,

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about speech, culture, and art
is part of that. And I wonder,

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how do you think about the
tension now between free speech
and rising hate that we see?

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GEDDY LEE: You know, people are
smart. People should be able
to discuss things. The death

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of discourse is not good for
the human race. It's not good
for improving things. You know,

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it's through discourse and
through educating each other

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about the things that
are important to have a
good, safe, peaceful life.

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That cannot go away. And
when you see that starting to
happen, it scares me. It really

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scares me a lot. And I am
put in mind of what was going
on in Germany before World

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War II. There are danger signs
all over the world right now,
and that worries me a lot.

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LISA DESJARDINS: That's
the image most Rush fans
have of them, thoughtful,

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philosophical, and different
from others in rock.

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GEDDY LEE: There's certainly
the theme of identity and
multiple identities is
a big part of the book.

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LISA DESJARDINS: But his book
is candid and confessional about
the reality of music-making.

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You talk about Bolivian
marching powder.

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GEDDY LEE: Yes. LISA DESJARDINS:
Doing lines of cocaine in

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the '70s and '80s. I think your
fans will be surprised by that.

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GEDDY LEE: You have to
remember, we were very

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young and suddenly finding
ourselves with 23 gigs
in a row, for example,

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driving every night, playing
every day, driving, driving,
play, drive, play, drive.

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And so, even our youthful
stamina, such as it was,
every once in a while needed

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a bit of help. But the
problem is that it's an
insidious drug. And you think

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you control cocaine, but
very rarely do you, because
it takes control of you.

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You asked me earlier about
our work ethic and are
obsessive to be perfect.
Well, that's the thing

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that controlled your drug
intake. You can't go out on
stage and seek perfection
if you're inebriated

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or somehow distorted or
handicapped by a drug.
So that's the thing
that really did save us.

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LISA DESJARDINS: I
wanted to come back to
that idea of community.

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The Rush community, the
Rush fan base, they love
you. I know. I am part of
that community. I think

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the Rush fan base sees
themselves sometimes as
people who don't fit in
everywhere in society,

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don't think that society
looks at them, and they
have found something in
your music that is refuge.

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Why do you think that is, and
what does that mean to you?

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GEDDY LEE: It means a hell of a
lot to me. And it sustained us.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Especially in
the late 1990s when, within a
span of months, Peart's daughter

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and then his wife died in
separate events. He was
shattered, and the band
took its longest break.

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GEDDY LEE: When he came back
to us and we decided to go back
on the road, made an album,

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the day we did our first show
in Hartford, people had come
literally from all corners

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of the world to welcome us
back. And that was so moving.
It was so overwhelming.

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And that was the first time
I realized the depth of their
ability to relate to us. Now,

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how did that come to be?
It's hard to know. Our
earliest fans, of course,

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loved that we played fast and
complicated stuff. And so our

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earliest fan base was largely
males and largely other
players, young players.

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But now it's changed. We
have young musicians of
every gender just following

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us and studying our music,
which is, of course,
the ultimate compliment.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Now Rush's
music has become a kind
of Rachmaninoff of rock,

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complex and challenging,
but idolized.

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Have to ask you, do you think
you could tour musically again?

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GEDDY LEE: Yes, I could. Will
I? It remains to be seen, but,

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yes, I could. And I do
have a desire to do that.

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LISA DESJARDINS: However
you label his music, Geddy
Lee wants more ahead.

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For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm Lisa Desjardins in
Oxon Hill, Maryland.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Check out
our Instagram for more from
Geddy Lee. Hear his answers

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to Lisa's lightning round of
questions on everything from
baseball to robots to Bjork.