Following the death of friend and bandmate Neil Peart earlier this year, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has admittedly found it hard to keep making music.
"It's been difficult," Lifeson told sports journalist Ann Liguori on her show Talkin' Golf [via Rolling Stone] "After Neil passed in January, I've played very little guitar. I just don't feel inspired and motivated."
Lifeson explained how it's a similar feeling to 1997, when Peart's teenage daughter and common-law partner died 10 months apart, leading the late drumming icon and his bandmates to take a hiatus.
"I didn't really play for about a year [after that]," Lifeson recalled. "I just don't feel it in my heart right now. Every time I pick up a guitar, I just aimlessly mess around with it and put it down after 10 minutes…Normally, I would pick up a guitar and I would play for a couple of hours without even being aware that I'm spending that much time. So I know it'll come back."
When it comes to future plans for himself and bassist Geddy Lee, Lifeson added, "I don't know if the motivation is there for us to really do anything now. We're certainly proud of our track record, and we still love music. But it's different now."
Last year, Lifeson expressed how he didn't "feel the need to carry on with what I did for almost half a century" with regards to touring.
As he told Liguori, "Maybe a year or two after we stopped, I probably missed it more. But I've settled into it now, and I quite like my life and what I'm doing. I keep active in music, and I'm so in love with golf during the summer, and I'm close to my family. It's a very good balance for me."
Peart passed away in January following a battle with brain cancer. He was 67. A tribute concert for the drumming icon set for May has been postponed to October due to COVID-19.
Police drummer Stewart Copeland recently shared some memories of Peart as a friend and contemporary. Rush recently released an anniversary edition of Permanent Waves.
"It's been difficult," Lifeson told sports journalist Ann Liguori on her show Talkin' Golf [via Rolling Stone] "After Neil passed in January, I've played very little guitar. I just don't feel inspired and motivated."
Lifeson explained how it's a similar feeling to 1997, when Peart's teenage daughter and common-law partner died 10 months apart, leading the late drumming icon and his bandmates to take a hiatus.
"I didn't really play for about a year [after that]," Lifeson recalled. "I just don't feel it in my heart right now. Every time I pick up a guitar, I just aimlessly mess around with it and put it down after 10 minutes…Normally, I would pick up a guitar and I would play for a couple of hours without even being aware that I'm spending that much time. So I know it'll come back."
When it comes to future plans for himself and bassist Geddy Lee, Lifeson added, "I don't know if the motivation is there for us to really do anything now. We're certainly proud of our track record, and we still love music. But it's different now."
Last year, Lifeson expressed how he didn't "feel the need to carry on with what I did for almost half a century" with regards to touring.
As he told Liguori, "Maybe a year or two after we stopped, I probably missed it more. But I've settled into it now, and I quite like my life and what I'm doing. I keep active in music, and I'm so in love with golf during the summer, and I'm close to my family. It's a very good balance for me."
Peart passed away in January following a battle with brain cancer. He was 67. A tribute concert for the drumming icon set for May has been postponed to October due to COVID-19.
Police drummer Stewart Copeland recently shared some memories of Peart as a friend and contemporary. Rush recently released an anniversary edition of Permanent Waves.
