You can barely bring up the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without someone saying, "Yeah, but they haven't even inducted Rush!"
And while it's true that Canada's greatest prog-rock export are not represented within Cleveland's hallowed halls, they couldn't care less.
"Honestly, we really, really don't care about it," guitarist Alex Lifeson recently told Rolling Stone. "It's someone's thing, and they can do whatever they want with it. They can have whomever they like. It's their thing."
He continued, "It's a little bit different here in Canada. We've received awards that mean an awful lot more to us than being in the Hall of Fame. We got the Governor General's Performing Arts Award a couple weeks ago. That's really the highest accolade you can get in this country for the performing arts, and it's recognized nationally, and I felt so proud as a Canadian to be in this esteemed group of artists that have been there for the last 20 years. "
But just because Rush aren't concerned with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame doesn't mean they'd turn it down if they were nominated.
"I mean, you don't want to be rude, and we're Canadians," Lifeson joked, "and we find it very difficult to be rude as much as we'd really like to."
Rush's new album, Clockwork Angels, is out now.
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Josh Hart is a former web producer and staff writer for Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado magazines (2010–2012). He has since pursued writing fiction under various pseudonyms while exploring the technical underpinnings of journalism, now serving as a senior software engineer for The Seattle Times.
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