Rush is an award-winning Canadian progressive rock band comprised of bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer Neil Peart (pronounced: 'Peert') that has been consistently recording since 1973.

The band was formed in the summer of 1968 by Lifeson, Lee, and John Rutsey (who played drums for Rush on the first album but resigned for health concerns shortly thereafter). Since Peart joined in 1974, they have remained intact. Lee and Lifeson usually write the music and Peart writes the lyrics, although every once in a while they will collaborate on lyrics or music.

Rush have been awarded the Juno Award (Canada's equivalent of the Grammy Award) on numerous occasions, and all three individuals are Members of the Order of Canada.

Rush's musical style has changed greatly over the lifetime of the group. Albums prior to 1980's Permanent Waves are a mix of heavy metal and progressive rock similar to Yes or Genesis. Demonstrating their birth within the short-lived era of glitter rock bands, such as Alice Cooper or Ziggy Stardust, Rush were known to have flashy costumes and stage shows. The lyrics of that time were heavily influenced by science fiction and, in a few cases, the writings and philosophy of Ayn Rand, as exhibited most prominently by 1976's 2112 and 1978's Hemispheres. Many of their early songs received limited airplay because of their extended length (in some cases exceeding ten minutes) which were deemed unprofitable by station managers.

Permanent Waves changed things dramatically. Although the music was still based on heavy-metal style, more and more keyboards were introduced. The themes of the songs changed dramatically, and became far more in common with alternative rock than prog-rock. One song in particular, Spirit of Radio (named for the Toronto-local groundbreaking radio station, CFNY), went on to become a huge hit on the alternative circuit. Another favorite on American classic rock stations to this day is Tom Sawyer from 1981's Moving Pictures. From that point on, their albums of the 1980s tended to follow this lead, although recordings in the later 1980s and 1990s have sometimes been derided as being too mainstream.

Each of the three individual artists has produced and released work independent of the band's structure, to varying degrees of commercial and critical success.

After 1996's Test for Echo, the band entered a six-year hiatus due mainly to personal tragedies in Peart's life. Peart's daughter Selena died in a car accident in August 1997, followed by his wife Jacqueline's death from cancer in June 1998. Peart embarked on a self-described "healing journey" by motorcycle in which he traveled thousands of miles across North America. He subsequently wrote about his travels in his book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. Rush later said that they came very close to disbanding during this period.

The band returned in 2002 with a surprisingly heavy and modern Vapor Trails album, their first without keyboards in over twenty years. The album contains the song "Ghost Rider", describing Peart's motorcycle journey. It debuted to moderate praise and was supported by the band's first tour in six years, including first-ever concerts in Mexico City and Brazil.

The band was one of a number of hometown favorites to play the SARS relief concert (dubbed SARStock) at Downsview Park in Toronto in August 2003, with an attendance of over half a million people. Also in 2003, Alex Lifeson appeared in the highly successful Canadian mockumentary Trailer Park Boys. Rush also played for CBC's 2004 tsunami relief telethon, along with Ed Robertson (of the Barenaked Ladies) and Mike Smith (Bubbles) from Trailer Park Boys.

A live album, Rush in Rio, was released in late October 2003. The companion DVD won the 2004 Juno for best music DVD. June 2004 saw the release of Feedback, a studio EP featuring eight covers of such artists as Cream and The Who. It is rumored that the band is to go back into the studio to record a new album in early 2005.

Rush has been nominated for a Best Rock Instrumental Performance Grammy Award for Neil Peart's drum solo, “O Baterista” from the album Rush in Rio.

Discography
Studio albums
Not Fade Away (1973)
Rush (March 1974)
Fly by Night (February 1975)
Caress of Steel (September 1975)
2112 (February 1976)
A Farewell to Kings (September 1977)
Hemispheres (October 1978)
Permanent Waves (January 1980)
Moving Pictures (January 1981)
Signals (September 1982)
Grace Under Pressure (April 1984)
Power Windows (October 1985)
Hold Your Fire (September 1987)
Presto (November 1989)
Roll the Bones (September 1991)
Counterparts (October 1993)
Test for Echo (September 1996)
Vapor Trails (May 2002)
Feedback (June 29, 2004)

Official live albums
All The World's a Stage (September 1976)
Exit...Stage Left (October 1981)
A Show of Hands (December 1988)
Different Stages (November 1998)
Rush in Rio (October 2003)

Compilations/interviews
Archives (April 1978) – Repackage of the first three albums (Rush, Fly by Night and Caress of Steel)
Chronicles (September 1990) – Essentially a "Greatest Hits" release
The Story of Kings - Interview (1992) – Interview with Alex Lifeson
The Interviews - Vol 2 (October 1995) – Interview with Geddy Lee
Retrospective I 1974-1980 (1997) – Repackaging of best songs from their first decade.
Retrospective II 1981-1987 (1997) – Repackaging of best songs from their second decade.
The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987 (February 2003) – Repackaging of Mercury/Polygram-held songs up to Hold Your Fire (1987), not endorsed by band
Solo efforts of band members:

Burning for Buddy, Volume 1 (Buddy Rich tribute album) – (Solo), Peart, et al (1994)
Burning for Buddy, Volume 2 (Buddy Rich tribute album) – (Solo), Peart, et al (1994/-5?)
Victor – (Solo), Lifeson, et al (1996)
My Favorite Headache – (Solo), Lee, et al (November 2000)

Books
Drum Techniques of Rush – Peart (1985) – ISBN 0769250556
More Drum Techniques of Rush – Peart, Wheeler (1989) – ISBN 0769250513
Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush – Price, et al. (1999) – ISBN 1587151022
The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa – Peart (1999) – ISBN 1895900026
Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road – Peart (2002) – ISBN 1550225464 (hardcover), ISBN 1550225480 (paperback)
Rush: Merely Players – Telleria (2002) – ISBN 1550822713
Rush: Success Under Pressure – Steve Gett (1984) – ISBN 0895242303
Traveling Music: Playing Back the Soundtrack to My Life and Times – Peart (2004) – ISBN 1550226649

Awards list
Rush has received many awards during their career.

Juno awards
Rush has been awarded the following Juno awards:

1974 Most promising group of the year
1977 Group of the year
1978 Group of the year
1991 Best Heavy Metal Album
1991 Best album cover - Presto
1992 Best Hard Rock Album
1992 Best album cover - Roll the Bones
2004 Music DVD of the year - "Rush in Rio"

Grammys
1982 Runner-up in Best Rock Instrumental
"YYZ" - beat by The Police's "Behind My Camel"
1992 Runner-up in Best Rock Instrumental
"Where's My Thing" - beat by Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover"
2004 Nomination in Best Rock Instrumental Performance
"O Baterista" from Rush In Rio

Magazine awards
- Geddy Lee is in the Bass Hall of Fame for Guitar Player Magazine
(he has won Best Rock Bass more than 5 times).
- Geddy Lee won "best Rock Bass player" in the 1993 "Bass Player" readers' poll.
- Alex Lifeson won Best Rock Talent in 1983 (I assume that it's on the same mag), and he was inducted into the Guitar for the Practicing Musician Hall of Fame in May of 1991.

Neil Peart has received the following awards in the Modern Drummer magazine reader's poll:

Hall of Fame: 1983
Best Rock Drummer: 1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985
Best Multi-Percussionist: 1983,1984,1985,1986
Best Percussion Instrumentalist: 1982
Most Promising New Drummer: 1980
Best All Around: 1986
Best Recorded Performance: 1981: Moving Pictures
1982: Exit... Stage Left
1983: Signals
1985: Grace Under Pressure
1986: Power Windows
1988: Hold Your Fire
1989: A Show of Hands
1990: Presto
1992: Roll The Bones
1986 Honor Roll: Rock Drummer, Multi-Percussion