Alex Lifeson Recounts ‘Unbelievable’ Jam With Metallica’s Kirk Hammett And Robert Trujillo

Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson recently shared details of an impromptu jam session with Metallica‘s guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. In a new interview with Pete Pardo of Sea Of Tranquility, Lifeson described the recent musical get-together in Toronto.

“The guys from Metallica were in [Toronto] last week,” Lifeson said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “And I got together with Kirk [Hammett, Metallica guitarist] and Rob [Robert Trujillo, Metallica bassist]. We went out for dinner and then we got together and jammed afterwards — actually, right here [at my house]. They came over after dinner and we played for a few hours, and it was great.”

Lifeson elaborated on the quality of the session, contrasting it with typical jams. “Often in the past, if you jam with a a bunch of people, we’d play a 12-bar bluesy thing; everybody can play that: ‘Let’s do that.’ But when you play with great musicians like those guys are, places you go is, it’s just unbelievable,” Alex explained. “It’s so remarkable. And God, I loved every second that we did that. The three of us just were oozing with enthusiasm, that whole thing. And that’s pretty cool.”

The connection between the musicians, particularly Trujillo‘s admiration for Rush, is well-documented. Less than two years ago, while speaking to Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station, Trujillo discussed his participation in Geddy Lee‘s Paramount+ documentary series, “Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?” The series saw the Rush frontman interviewing Trujillo, Krist Novoselic (formerly of Nirvana), Les Claypool of Primus, and Melissa Auf Der Maur (formerly of Hole and Smashing Pumpkins).

Robert Trujillo described the experience of spending time with his musical hero as surreal, having been influenced by Rush‘s music since his teenage years. “I played in backyard party bands at age 16 and we played [Rush‘s] ‘La Villa Strangiato‘, we played ‘YYZ‘, we played all those classic songs,” Robert recalled. “The harder, the better back then. And we probably butchered them, but we would play these backyard parties and play Rush songs in the same way that we also played Ozzy [Osbourne] songs and we played Black Sabbath songs and Van Halen and all these different bands. So you can imagine hanging out with one of your heroes and just trying to stay grounded… At the end of the day, everybody’s a human being and you always wanna treat people with respect and, again, stay grounded. But at the same time, you’re going, ‘Damn, that’s Geddy Lee.'”

Further demonstrating their appreciation for Rush, Trujillo and Hammett performed a rendition of the band’s instrumental classic “La Villa Strangiato” during Metallica‘s concert at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on April 26th.

Alex Lifeson has been a towering figure in music for over fifty years, redefining progressive rock guitar. His innovative style earned him the nickname “The Musical Scientist” from his Rush bandmates. While best known for his work with Rush, Lifeson also released a solo album, Victor, in 1996 and has contributed to various other projects. He is consistently ranked among the greatest guitarists by publications like Guitar World and Rolling Stone.

Currently, Lifeson is active with his band Envy of None, which also features Andy Curran (of Coney Hatch), Alfio Annibalini, and singer Maiah Wynne. The group released their second album, Stygian Wavz, on March 28, 2025, via Kscope.

You can see the Kirk‘s and Robert‘s performance of “La Villa Strangiato” down below.