Rush reflect on 2015 farewell tour: “We let our British and European fans down”

nme.com:

Rush have reflected on their 2015 farewell tour, saying that they “let our British and European fans down” by not giving them the chance to say goodbye.The Canadian band played 35 headline shows across North America almost 10 years ago, having formed over four decades prior.

Drummer Neil Peart died from brain cancer in early 2020, aged 67.During a new interview with Classic Rock, bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson recalled how they had initially wanted to visit more countries as part of the trek – but said Peart didn’t want to head out on the road at all.“I’d pushed really hard to get more gigs so that we could do those extra shows and I was unsuccessful,” Lee told the magazine of the ‘R40 Live’ tour.“I really felt like I let our British and European fans down.

It felt to me incorrect that we didn’t do it, but Neil [Peart] was adamant that he would only do 30 shows and that was it.”He continued: “That to him was a huge compromise because he didn’t want to do any shows.

He didn’t want to do one show. So, in his mind, he’d compromised already. He said, ‘I’ll do 30 gigs, don’t ask me for any more’.“I just kind of felt I owed an explanation to them, the audience.