Despite his legendary status as the guitarist for Rush, Alex Lifeson recently told The Rockman Power Hour that he maintains a humble perspective on his musical role. He told (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “You get a lot of celebrity thrown at you and all of that stuff. It’s just normal in this fan world. But honestly, I’m just a guy who loves playing guitar, and I always have, since I was 11 years old. I feel so lucky that I have that, and it’s not about having a successful career or any of this”.
Lifeson emphasized his deep personal connection to the instrument. “I play guitar every day. I play usually for — I don’t know — three or four hours a day,” he explained. “I play for an hour before I go to bed every night. I like to have a little puff, and then I sit down. I keep a couple of guitars in the bedroom, and I go back and forth — it’s nylon string one day, steel string [the next day] — and I play for an hour, and I’m lost. And I don’t play scales or I don’t practice. I just play guitar because it’s so fucking amazing to be able to do that. And I’m gonna do it until my last breath. I know that. And I don’t attach any kind of specialness to it. It’s just blessing for me that I can do that. And then if I can apply it to other people’s music and use my skills that I’ve learned over the years to do something to make their music better, that’s a real gratifying experience for me.”
Beyond his personal enjoyment, Lifeson actively collaborates on various projects. “I work on a lot of different projects,” he added. “I’m working on a project now with some of the guys from Barenaked Ladies and the Rheostatics on a Great Lakes documentary, and it’s all jam based, so we have hours and hours of jamming and now we’re editing and putting it all together. Wow. What a great experience that is, because it’s not being a big shot. It’s there playing with other great players, making great music, and everybody’s contributing. And that’s the essence of being a musician and being a part of this whole musical world. It’s not about being a big shot.”
While Alex Lifeson‘s guitar work is central to Rush‘s signature sound, with iconic contributions to tracks like “Working Man,” “2112,” and “La Villa Strangiato,” he revealed earlier that his approach evolved over time. Contrary to some fan perceptions that his guitar took a backseat in the 1980s with the rise of synthesizers in Rush‘s music, Lifeson indicated this shift happened later.
“I was reluctant even in Rush towards the end, I was not playing nearly as many solos,” Lifeson said in a recent interview on Q with Tom Power. “That was part of the way we did things. There was always a spot for a solo, whether we used it as a solo or not. It was there. And I would do a solo.”
He elaborated on his reasoning: “And then, in the later years, I just wanted to get away from that. Because I didn’t want to bring so much attention to that. I don’t know, maybe I was thinking crazy, but it just seemed that way at the time. So, going into this Envy Of None, the music was so different. I just wanted to be in the background. And my job was to be a part of this thing. Not this guy from Rush.”
The “towards the end” period Lifeson referred to encompasses Rush‘s final studio albums, Snakes & Arrows (2007) and Clockwork Angels (2012), before the band’s official retirement in 2015. The subsequent passing of drummer Neil Peart on January 7, 2020, marked the definitive end of the band.
Lifeson‘s preference for a more integrated guitar role continues in his post-Rush project, Envy Of None, which recently released their second album, Stygian Waves on March 28, 2025. In this new musical chapter, he prioritizes sonic textures and atmosphere over prominent solos, demonstrating a conscious departure from his earlier guitar hero persona.
