Rush frontman Geddy Lee has revealed that between brewing band beer and taking part in a "super-secret" project with Barenaked Ladies, he has also found time to begin writing his memoirs.
On Instagram today, Lee shared that his yet-to-be-titled tome is slated for release in the fall of 2022, published by HarperCollins and edited by Noah Eaker.
As Lee tells it, the memoir-writing began after finding himself locked down for "the longest time I'd spent in Toronto since I was nineteen and hit the Northern Ontario bar circuit with Rush" as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
"My friend and collaborator on the Big Beautiful Book of Bass, Daniel Richler, saw how I was struggling in the aftermath of [Neil Peart's] passing, and tried coaxing me out of my blues with some funny tales from his youth, daring me to share my own in return. So I did — reluctantly at first, but then remembering, oh yeah, I like wrestling with words. It's a less physical version of arguing with musical notes, without a [Rickenbacker] doubleneck breaking my back!"
Soon, Lee's "baby-step stories were becoming grownup chapters," which he would send to Richler to "clean up some of the grammar and remove a lot of the swearing (I love to fucking swear)."
"In a voice that sounded, well, just like me, a presentable, epic-length account of my life on and off the stage was taking shape: my childhood, my family, the story of my parents' survival, my travels and all sorts of nonsense I've spent too much time obsessing over," Lee concluded. "And Daniel said, 'I think you're writing a book. An actual memoir, in fact.' To which I replied, 'Hmm… I guess I am.'"
The aforementioned Geddy Lee's Big Book of Beautiful Bass was published in 2018, and showcased 250 of Lee's instruments — including that back-breaking Rickenbacker. Some of the featured instruments were then treated to an exhibit at the National Music Centre in Calgary.
Lee's friend and Rush bandmate Alex Lifeson has been teasing music from new project Envy of None.
On Instagram today, Lee shared that his yet-to-be-titled tome is slated for release in the fall of 2022, published by HarperCollins and edited by Noah Eaker.
As Lee tells it, the memoir-writing began after finding himself locked down for "the longest time I'd spent in Toronto since I was nineteen and hit the Northern Ontario bar circuit with Rush" as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
"My friend and collaborator on the Big Beautiful Book of Bass, Daniel Richler, saw how I was struggling in the aftermath of [Neil Peart's] passing, and tried coaxing me out of my blues with some funny tales from his youth, daring me to share my own in return. So I did — reluctantly at first, but then remembering, oh yeah, I like wrestling with words. It's a less physical version of arguing with musical notes, without a [Rickenbacker] doubleneck breaking my back!"
Soon, Lee's "baby-step stories were becoming grownup chapters," which he would send to Richler to "clean up some of the grammar and remove a lot of the swearing (I love to fucking swear)."
"In a voice that sounded, well, just like me, a presentable, epic-length account of my life on and off the stage was taking shape: my childhood, my family, the story of my parents' survival, my travels and all sorts of nonsense I've spent too much time obsessing over," Lee concluded. "And Daniel said, 'I think you're writing a book. An actual memoir, in fact.' To which I replied, 'Hmm… I guess I am.'"
The aforementioned Geddy Lee's Big Book of Beautiful Bass was published in 2018, and showcased 250 of Lee's instruments — including that back-breaking Rickenbacker. Some of the featured instruments were then treated to an exhibit at the National Music Centre in Calgary.
Lee's friend and Rush bandmate Alex Lifeson has been teasing music from new project Envy of None.