Alex Lifeson
Encyclopedia
Aleksandar Živojinović, OC
, (born August 27, 1953) better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist
of the Canadian rock
band Rush
. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey
. He has been an integral member of the band ever since.
For Rush, Lifeson plays electric and acoustic guitars as well as other stringed instruments such as mandola
, mandolin
, and bouzouki
. He also performs backing vocals in live performances, and occasionally plays keyboards and bass pedal synthesizers. During live performances, Lifeson, like the other members of Rush, performs real-time triggering of sampled
instruments, concurrently with his guitar playing.
The bulk of Lifeson's work in music has been with Rush, although Lifeson has contributed to a body of work outside of the band as well. Aside from music, Lifeson is part owner of the Toronto restaurant The Orbit Room
, and is a licensed aircraft pilot
.
Along with his bandmates Geddy Lee
and Neil Peart
, Lifeson was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
on May 9, 1996. The trio was the first rock band to be so honoured, as a group.
, British Columbia to Serbian immigrants, Nenad and Melanija Zivojinovich (from Serbian
: Живојиновић, Živojinović), and raised in Toronto
, Ontario. His assumed stage name of "Lifeson" is a semi-literal translation of the name "Zivojinovich", which means "son of life" in Serbian. His first exposure to formal music training came in the form of the viola
, which he renounced for the guitar at the age of 12. His first guitar was a Christmas gift from his father, a six-string Kent classical acoustic which was later upgraded to an electric Japanese model. During his adolescent years, he was influenced primarily by Jimi Hendrix
, Pete Townshend
, Jeff Beck
, Eric Clapton
, Jimmy Page
and Steve Hackett
; he explained in 2011 that "Clapton's solos seemed a little easier and more approachable. I remember sitting at my record player and moving the needle back and forth to get the solo in 'Spoonful.' But there was nothing I could do with Hendrix." In 1963 Lifeson met future Rush drummer John Rutsey
in school. Both interested in music, they decided to form a band. Lifeson was primarily a self-taught guitarist with the only formal instruction coming from a high school friend in 1971 who taught classical guitar lessons. This training lasted for roughly a year and a half.
Lifeson recalls what inspired him to play guitar in a 2008 interview:
Lifeson's first girlfriend, Charlene, gave birth to their eldest son, Justin, in October 1970, and they married in 1975. Their second son, Adrian, who is also involved in music, performed on two tracks from Lifeson's 1996 solo project, Victor.
began experimenting on a rented drum kit and, in early 1968, Lifeson and Rutsey formed The Projection, which eventually became Rush following the recruitment of original bassist/vocalist Jeff Jones
. Geddy Lee
assumed this role soon after.
Instrumentally, Lifeson is regarded as a guitarist whose strengths and notability rely primarily on signature riffing, electronic effects and processing, unorthodox chord structures, and a copious arsenal of equipment used over the years. Despite his esteem, however, Lifeson is often regarded as being overshadowed by his bandmates due to Lee's on-stage multi-instrumental dexterity and Peart's status as a drummer.
Rush was on hiatus for several years starting in 1997 owing to personal tragedies in Neil Peart's life, and Lifeson had not picked up a guitar for at least a year following those events. However, after some work in his home studio and on various side projects, Lifeson returned to the studio with Rush to begin work on 2002's Vapor Trails. Vapor Trails is the first Rush album since the 1970s to lack keyboards—as such, Lifeson used over 50 different guitars in what Shawn Hammond of Guitar Player called "his most rabid and experimental playing ever." Geddy Lee was amenable to leaving keyboards off the album due in part to Lifeson's ongoing concern about their use. Lifeson's approach to the guitar tracks for the album eschewed traditional guitar riffs and solos in favour of "tonality and harmonic quality."
During live performances, he is still responsible for cuing various guitar effects, the use of bass-pedal synthesizers and backing vocals.
, released in 1996. Victor was attributed as a self-titled work (i.e. Victor is attributed as the artist as well as the album title). This was done deliberately as an alternative to issuing the album explicitly under Lifeson's name.
album Alien Shores
(1985) performing guitar solos on the songs "Crying Over You" and "Holy Water". Later, in 1990, he appeared on Lawrence Gowan
's album, Lost Brotherhood to play guitar. In 1995, he guested on two tracks on Tom Cochrane
's Ragged Ass Road
album and then in 1996 on I Mother Earth
's "Like a Girl" from the Scenery and Fish
album. In 2006, Lifeson founded The Big Dirty Band
, which he created for the purpose of providing original soundtrack material for Trailer Park Boys: The Movie. Lifeson jammed
regularly with The Dexters (The Orbit Room
house band from 1994 to 2004). Recently, Lifeson made a guest appearance on the 2007 album Fear of a Blank Planet
by UK progressive rock band, Porcupine Tree
, contributing a solo during the song 'Anesthetize'. He also appears on the 2008 album Fly Paper by Detroit progressive rockers, Tiles
. He plays on the track "Sacred and Mundane". Outside of band related endeavours, Lifeson composed the theme for the first season of the science-fiction TV series Andromeda
. He also produced 3 songs from the album Away from the Sun
by 3 Doors Down
.
In a 2003 episode of the Canadian mockumentary
Trailer Park Boys
, titled "Closer to the Heart
", Lifeson plays a partly fictional version of himself. In the story, he is kidnapped by Ricky
and held as punishment for his inability (or refusal) to provide the main characters with free tickets to a Rush concert. In the end of the episode, Alex reconciles with the characters, and performs a duet of "Closer to the Heart" with Bubbles
at the trailer park. In 2006, Lifeson appeared in Trailer Park Boys: The Movie as a traffic cop in the opening scene and in 2009 he appeared in their follow up movie, Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day
, as an undercover vice cop in drag.
In 2008, Lifeson and the rest of Rush played "Tom Sawyer" at the end of an episode of The Colbert Report. According to Colbert, this was their first appearance on American television as a band in 33 years.
In 2009, he and the rest of the band appeared as themselves in the comedy I Love You, Man
.
In 2010 Lifeson appeared in the independent Canadian film Suck
playing the role of an American border guard who initially tries to make trouble for the band members as they are trying to enter the US. Upon hearing that they are a band his attitude changes, he mentions that he was also in a band once, and lets them enter while saying "Rock On".
In 2010, Lifeson appeared in The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour
, a new series from the Trailer Park Boys team.
hotel in Naples, Florida
. Lifeson, after intervening in an altercation between his son and police, was accused of assaulting a sheriff's deputy in what was described as a drunken brawl. In addition to suffering a broken nose at the hands of the officers, Lifeson was tased six times. His son was also tased repeatedly.
On April 21, 2005, Lifeson and his son agreed to a plea deal with the local prosecutor
for the State's Attorney
office to avoid jail time by pleading no contest
to a first-degree misdemeanor
charge of resisting arrest without violence. As part of the plea agreement Lifeson and his son were each sentenced to 12 months of probation with the adjudication of that probation suspended. Lifeson acknowledged his subsequent legal action against both the Ritz-Carlton and the Collier County Sheriff's Department for "their incredibly discourteous, arrogant and aggressive behaviour of which I had never experienced in thirty years of travel." Although both actions were initially dismissed in April 2007, legal claims against the Ritz-Carlton were reinstated upon appeal, and ultimately settled out of court in August 2008, with Lifeson and his son agreeing to a confidential settlement from Ritz-Carlton.
In his journal-based book Roadshow, Peart relates the band's perspective on the events of that New Year's Eve.
for the first tour, and in 1976 bought a 1974 Gibson Les Paul
; he used those two guitars until the late 1970s. He had a Fender Stratocaster
with a Bill Lawrence
humbucker and Floyd Rose
vibrato bridge as backup "and for a different sound." For the A Farewell to Kings
sessions, Lifeson began using a Gibson EDS-1275
for songs like "Xanadu" and his main guitar became a white Gibson ES-355. During this period Lifeson used Hiwatt
amplifiers. He played a twelve-string Gibson B-45 on songs like "Closer to the Heart
."
From 1980 to 1986, Lifeson used four identically modified Stratocasters, all of them equipped with the Floyd Rose bridge. As a joke, he called these Hentor Sportscasters – a made-up name inspired by Peter Henderson's name, who was the producer of Grace Under Pressure
. He also played a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion. By 1987, Lifeson switched to Signature guitars (Canadian-made) which, while "awful to play--very uncomfortable--...had a particular sound I liked." Lifeson primarily used PRS
guitars during the recording of Roll The Bones
in 1990/1991. The last few years, he said in 2011, he has "used Gibson almost exclusively. There's nothing like having a low-slung Les Paul over my shoulder" In early 2011, Gibson introduced the "Alex Lifeson Axcess", a guitar specially designed for him. These are custom made Les Pauls with Floyd Rose systems on both of them. He mentioned the process taking two years to design a perfect guitar. He used these two custom Les Pauls on the Time Machine Tour. These guitars are also available through Gibson, in a viceroy Brown or Crimson color. Lifeson used these two guitars heavily on the tour.
In 2005, Hughes & Kettner introduced an Alex Lifeson signature series amplifier; $50 from each amplifier sold will be donated to UNICEF.
, mandolin
and bouzouki
on recent Rush studio albums, including Test for Echo
, Vapor Trails
and Snakes & Arrows
. During live Rush performances, Lifeson uses a MIDI controller
that enables him to use his feet to trigger sounds from digital samplers
, without taking his hands off his guitar. (Prior to this, Lifeson used Moog Taurus
Bass Pedals before they were replaced by Korg MIDI pedals in the 1980s.) Lifeson and his bandmates share a desire to accurately depict songs from their albums when playing live performances. Toward this goal, beginning in the late 1980s the band equipped their live performances with a capacious rack of samplers. The band members use these samplers in real-time to recreate the sounds of non-traditional instruments, accompaniment
s, vocal harmonies, and other sound "events" that are familiarly heard on the studio versions of the songs. In live performances, the band members share duties throughout most songs, with each member triggering certain sounds with his available limbs, while playing his primary instrument(s).
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, (born August 27, 1953) better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
of the Canadian rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey
John Rutsey
John Howard Rutsey from Ontario, Canada was a former drummer, most recognized for being a co-founding member of Rush along with Alex Lifeson and Jeff Jones, and performing on the band's debut album.-History:...
. He has been an integral member of the band ever since.
For Rush, Lifeson plays electric and acoustic guitars as well as other stringed instruments such as mandola
Mandola
The mandola or tenor mandola is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola , a fifth lower than a mandolin...
, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, and bouzouki
Bouzouki
The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
. He also performs backing vocals in live performances, and occasionally plays keyboards and bass pedal synthesizers. During live performances, Lifeson, like the other members of Rush, performs real-time triggering of sampled
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
instruments, concurrently with his guitar playing.
The bulk of Lifeson's work in music has been with Rush, although Lifeson has contributed to a body of work outside of the band as well. Aside from music, Lifeson is part owner of the Toronto restaurant The Orbit Room
The Orbit Room
The Orbit Room is a Toronto bar owned by Rush lead guitarist Alex Lifeson and Tim Notter. The restaurant is managed by Tim Wilson. The venue is decorated in the style of a 1950s New York cocktail lounge, and plays host to many different kinds of live music; particularly R&B, funk, and jazz...
, and is a licensed aircraft pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
.
Along with his bandmates Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee
Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...
and Neil Peart
Neil Peart
Neil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer...
, Lifeson was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
on May 9, 1996. The trio was the first rock band to be so honoured, as a group.
Early life
Lifeson was born Aleksandar Živojinović in FernieFernie, British Columbia
Fernie is a city in the Elk Valley area of the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, located on BC Highway 3 on the eastern approaches to the Crowsnest Pass through the Rocky Mountains...
, British Columbia to Serbian immigrants, Nenad and Melanija Zivojinovich (from Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
: Живојиновић, Živojinović), and raised in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario. His assumed stage name of "Lifeson" is a semi-literal translation of the name "Zivojinovich", which means "son of life" in Serbian. His first exposure to formal music training came in the form of the viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, which he renounced for the guitar at the age of 12. His first guitar was a Christmas gift from his father, a six-string Kent classical acoustic which was later upgraded to an electric Japanese model. During his adolescent years, he was influenced primarily by Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
, Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
and Steve Hackett
Steve Hackett
Stephen Richard Hackett is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970 and left in 1977 to pursue a solo career...
; he explained in 2011 that "Clapton's solos seemed a little easier and more approachable. I remember sitting at my record player and moving the needle back and forth to get the solo in 'Spoonful.' But there was nothing I could do with Hendrix." In 1963 Lifeson met future Rush drummer John Rutsey
John Rutsey
John Howard Rutsey from Ontario, Canada was a former drummer, most recognized for being a co-founding member of Rush along with Alex Lifeson and Jeff Jones, and performing on the band's debut album.-History:...
in school. Both interested in music, they decided to form a band. Lifeson was primarily a self-taught guitarist with the only formal instruction coming from a high school friend in 1971 who taught classical guitar lessons. This training lasted for roughly a year and a half.
Lifeson recalls what inspired him to play guitar in a 2008 interview:
Lifeson's first girlfriend, Charlene, gave birth to their eldest son, Justin, in October 1970, and they married in 1975. Their second son, Adrian, who is also involved in music, performed on two tracks from Lifeson's 1996 solo project, Victor.
Rush
Lifeson's neighbour John RutseyJohn Rutsey
John Howard Rutsey from Ontario, Canada was a former drummer, most recognized for being a co-founding member of Rush along with Alex Lifeson and Jeff Jones, and performing on the band's debut album.-History:...
began experimenting on a rented drum kit and, in early 1968, Lifeson and Rutsey formed The Projection, which eventually became Rush following the recruitment of original bassist/vocalist Jeff Jones
Jeff Jones (musician)
Jeff Jones is a Canadian bass guitar player. He first gained fame as a member of the gospel rock band Ocean. Their million-selling 1971 single "Put Your Hand in the Hand" was penned by Gene MacLellan. The gramophone record received a gold disc awarded by the Recording Industry Association of...
. Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee
Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...
assumed this role soon after.
Instrumentally, Lifeson is regarded as a guitarist whose strengths and notability rely primarily on signature riffing, electronic effects and processing, unorthodox chord structures, and a copious arsenal of equipment used over the years. Despite his esteem, however, Lifeson is often regarded as being overshadowed by his bandmates due to Lee's on-stage multi-instrumental dexterity and Peart's status as a drummer.
Rush was on hiatus for several years starting in 1997 owing to personal tragedies in Neil Peart's life, and Lifeson had not picked up a guitar for at least a year following those events. However, after some work in his home studio and on various side projects, Lifeson returned to the studio with Rush to begin work on 2002's Vapor Trails. Vapor Trails is the first Rush album since the 1970s to lack keyboards—as such, Lifeson used over 50 different guitars in what Shawn Hammond of Guitar Player called "his most rabid and experimental playing ever." Geddy Lee was amenable to leaving keyboards off the album due in part to Lifeson's ongoing concern about their use. Lifeson's approach to the guitar tracks for the album eschewed traditional guitar riffs and solos in favour of "tonality and harmonic quality."
During live performances, he is still responsible for cuing various guitar effects, the use of bass-pedal synthesizers and backing vocals.
Victor
While the bulk of Lifeson's work in music has been with Rush, Lifeson's first major outside work was his solo project, VictorVictor (album)
Victor is a solo album by Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson under the name "Victor" released January 9, 1996 on Atlantic Records outside of Canada and Anthem Records within Canada...
, released in 1996. Victor was attributed as a self-titled work (i.e. Victor is attributed as the artist as well as the album title). This was done deliberately as an alternative to issuing the album explicitly under Lifeson's name.
Side projects
Lifeson has also contributed to a body of work outside of his involvement with the band in the form of instrumental contributions to other musical outfits. He made a guest appearance on the Platinum BlondePlatinum Blonde (band)
Platinum Blonde is a Canadian New Wave group in the mid 1980s-early 1990s. The band originally consisted of Mark Holmes from Scarborough on vocals and bass, Sergio Galli on guitar and Chris Steffler on drums. Scottish musician Kenny MacLean later joined the group as the bassist. The name of the...
album Alien Shores
Alien Shores
Alien Shores was Platinum Blonde's 1985 follow up to their debut album Standing in the Dark. Released by Columbia/CBS Records Canada in 1985, it contained one of the band's biggest Canadian hits with "Crying Over You" and their only US hit, "Somebody Somewhere".This album was the first to feature...
(1985) performing guitar solos on the songs "Crying Over You" and "Holy Water". Later, in 1990, he appeared on Lawrence Gowan
Lawrence Gowan
Lawrence Gowan is a Scottish-born Canadian musician. Gowan has been both a solo artist and the current keyboardist and vocalist of the band Styx. His musical style is usually classified in the category of progressive rock.-Career:...
's album, Lost Brotherhood to play guitar. In 1995, he guested on two tracks on Tom Cochrane
Tom Cochrane
Tom Cochrane, OC Canadian musician and humanitarian, best known for his hit songs "Life Is a Highway", "Lunatic Fringe", "Human Race" and "I Wish You Well". Cochrane fronted the Canadian rock band Red Rider and has won seven Juno Awards...
's Ragged Ass Road
Ragged Ass Road
Ragged Ass Road is the second solo album album by former Red Rider frontman Tom Cochrane, released in October of 1995. The album was named for Ragged Ass Road, a street in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories...
album and then in 1996 on I Mother Earth
I Mother Earth
I Mother Earth, or IME, was a Canadian alternative rock band. The band was at the peak of its popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s; its members have moved on to other projects.-Early years:...
's "Like a Girl" from the Scenery and Fish
Scenery and Fish
Scenery and Fish is the second album by the Canadian alternative rock band I Mother Earth, released by Capitol and EMI on July 9, 1996. It was the band's most commercially successful work, going double platinum in Canada....
album. In 2006, Lifeson founded The Big Dirty Band
Big Dirty Band
The Big Dirty Band is a Canadian supergroup composed of Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson , Thornley's and Big Wreck's Ian Thornley , Three Days Grace's Adam Gontier , Die Mannequin's Care Failure and The Tea Party drummer Jeff Burrows.The Big Dirty Band was put together in support of the Trailer...
, which he created for the purpose of providing original soundtrack material for Trailer Park Boys: The Movie. Lifeson jammed
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
regularly with The Dexters (The Orbit Room
The Orbit Room
The Orbit Room is a Toronto bar owned by Rush lead guitarist Alex Lifeson and Tim Notter. The restaurant is managed by Tim Wilson. The venue is decorated in the style of a 1950s New York cocktail lounge, and plays host to many different kinds of live music; particularly R&B, funk, and jazz...
house band from 1994 to 2004). Recently, Lifeson made a guest appearance on the 2007 album Fear of a Blank Planet
Fear of a Blank Planet
Fear of a Blank Planet is the ninth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree and their best selling . Released by Roadrunner on 16 April 2007 in the UK and Europe, 24 April 2007 in the United States through Atlantic, 25 April 2007 in Japan on WHD and 1 May 2007 in Canada by WEA...
by UK progressive rock band, Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
, contributing a solo during the song 'Anesthetize'. He also appears on the 2008 album Fly Paper by Detroit progressive rockers, Tiles
Tiles (band)
Tiles is a progressive rock band from Detroit, Michigan, USA.- Biography :TILES was formed in February 1993, featuring Mark Evans , Chris Herin , Paul Rarick , and Jeff Whittle . It is signed to Inside Out Music in North America and Europe...
. He plays on the track "Sacred and Mundane". Outside of band related endeavours, Lifeson composed the theme for the first season of the science-fiction TV series Andromeda
Andromeda (TV series)
Andromeda is a Canadian-American science fiction television series, based on unused material by the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, developed by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and produced by Roddenberry's widow, Majel Barrett Roddenberry. It starred Kevin Sorbo as High Guard Captain Dylan Hunt...
. He also produced 3 songs from the album Away from the Sun
Away from the Sun
Away from the Sun is the second studio album by 3 Doors Down, released on November 12, 2002. The singles released for the album were as follows: "When I'm Gone", "The Road I'm On", "Here Without You", and "Away from the Sun"...
by 3 Doors Down
3 Doors Down
3 Doors Down is an American rock band from Escatawpa formed in 1996. The band consists of Brad Arnold , Matt Roberts , Todd Harrell , Chris Henderson , and Greg Upchurch ....
.
Television and film appearances
Lifeson made his film debut as himself under his birth name in the 1972 Canadian documentary film Come on Children.In a 2003 episode of the Canadian mockumentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
Trailer Park Boys
Trailer Park Boys
Trailer Park Boys is a Canadian comedy mockumentary television series created and directed by Mike Clattenburg that focuses on the misadventures of a group of trailer park residents, some of whom are ex-convicts, living in the fictional Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The...
, titled "Closer to the Heart
Closer to the Heart
"Closer to the Heart" is a single by Rush, released in 1977, from the album A Farewell to Kings. It was the first Rush song to have an external co-writer, namely Peter Talbot, a friend of drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
", Lifeson plays a partly fictional version of himself. In the story, he is kidnapped by Ricky
Robb Wells
Robb Wells is a Canadian actor and screenwriter who portrayed Ricky on Trailer Park Boys.-Early life:Wells was born in Moncton, New Brunswick and moved to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia when he was eight years old...
and held as punishment for his inability (or refusal) to provide the main characters with free tickets to a Rush concert. In the end of the episode, Alex reconciles with the characters, and performs a duet of "Closer to the Heart" with Bubbles
Mike Smith (actor)
Mike Smith is a Canadian actor and musician, most famous for playing Bubbles on Trailer Park Boys.-Personal life:...
at the trailer park. In 2006, Lifeson appeared in Trailer Park Boys: The Movie as a traffic cop in the opening scene and in 2009 he appeared in their follow up movie, Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day
Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day
Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day is a 2009 Canadian mockumentary comedy/crime film directed by Mike Clattenburg. It is the second film based on the Canadian television series Trailer Park Boys, following 2005's Trailer Park Boys: The Movie...
, as an undercover vice cop in drag.
In 2008, Lifeson and the rest of Rush played "Tom Sawyer" at the end of an episode of The Colbert Report. According to Colbert, this was their first appearance on American television as a band in 33 years.
In 2009, he and the rest of the band appeared as themselves in the comedy I Love You, Man
I Love You, Man
I Love You, Man is a 2009 American comedy film originally titled Let's be Friends and written by Larry Levin before John Hamburg rewrote and directed the film...
.
In 2010 Lifeson appeared in the independent Canadian film Suck
Suck (film)
Suck is a 2009 rock-and-roll vampire comedy film starring, written and directed by Rob Stefaniuk. Stefaniuk stars alongside Canadian actress Jessica Paré, Malcolm McDowell and rock legends Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins, Moby and Alex Lifeson of Rush. Production took place in and around...
playing the role of an American border guard who initially tries to make trouble for the band members as they are trying to enter the US. Upon hearing that they are a band his attitude changes, he mentions that he was also in a band once, and lets them enter while saying "Rock On".
In 2010, Lifeson appeared in The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour
The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour
The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour is a Canadian television comedy series, airing in the 2011 television season on Action.Described by its producers as "Curb Your Enthusiasm after it got smashed in the head with a hammer and force-fed liquor and drugs", the show stars former Trailer Park...
, a new series from the Trailer Park Boys team.
The Naples incident
On New Year's Eve 2003, Lifeson, his son, and his daughter-in-law were arrested at the Ritz-CarltonRitz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton is a brand of luxury hotels and resorts with 75 properties located in major cities and resorts in 24 countries worldwide...
hotel in Naples, Florida
Naples, Florida
Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of July 1, 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 21,653. Naples is a principal city of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated total population of 315,839 on July 1, 2007...
. Lifeson, after intervening in an altercation between his son and police, was accused of assaulting a sheriff's deputy in what was described as a drunken brawl. In addition to suffering a broken nose at the hands of the officers, Lifeson was tased six times. His son was also tased repeatedly.
On April 21, 2005, Lifeson and his son agreed to a plea deal with the local prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
for the State's Attorney
State's Attorney
In the United States, the State's Attorney is, most commonly, an elected official who represents the State in criminal prosecutions and is often the chief law enforcement officer of their respective county, circuit...
office to avoid jail time by pleading no contest
Nolo contendere
is a legal term that comes from the Latin for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a plea of no contest.In criminal trials, and in some common law jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of...
to a first-degree misdemeanor
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
charge of resisting arrest without violence. As part of the plea agreement Lifeson and his son were each sentenced to 12 months of probation with the adjudication of that probation suspended. Lifeson acknowledged his subsequent legal action against both the Ritz-Carlton and the Collier County Sheriff's Department for "their incredibly discourteous, arrogant and aggressive behaviour of which I had never experienced in thirty years of travel." Although both actions were initially dismissed in April 2007, legal claims against the Ritz-Carlton were reinstated upon appeal, and ultimately settled out of court in August 2008, with Lifeson and his son agreeing to a confidential settlement from Ritz-Carlton.
In his journal-based book Roadshow, Peart relates the band's perspective on the events of that New Year's Eve.
Guitar equipment
In Rush's early career, Lifeson used a Gibson ES-335Gibson ES-335
The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial thinline arched-top semi-acoustic electric guitar. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958, it is neither hollow nor solid; instead, a solid wood block runs through the center of its body...
for the first tour, and in 1976 bought a 1974 Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
; he used those two guitars until the late 1970s. He had a Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
with a Bill Lawrence
Bill Lawrence (guitar maker)
Bill Lawrence is a recording musician and an electric guitar pickup designer/maker and guitar designer/maker in the musical instrument industry, designing pickups and guitars for Fender, Gibson, Peavey and other companies from the 1950s to the present.MusicianThe Bill Lawrence story began...
humbucker and Floyd Rose
Floyd Rose
The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, or simply Floyd Rose, is a type of locking vibrato arm for a guitar. The first of its kind, Floyd D. Rose invented the locking vibrato in 1977, and it is now manufactured by a company of the same name...
vibrato bridge as backup "and for a different sound." For the A Farewell to Kings
A Farewell to Kings
A Farewell to Kings is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1977. The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, and mixed at Advision Studios in London....
sessions, Lifeson began using a Gibson EDS-1275
Gibson EDS-1275
The Gibson EDS-1275 is a doubleneck Gibson electric guitar introduced in 1963 and still in production. Popularized by both rock and jazz musicians such as Jimmy Page and John McLaughlin, it was called "the coolest guitar in rock."-History:...
for songs like "Xanadu" and his main guitar became a white Gibson ES-355. During this period Lifeson used Hiwatt
Hiwatt
Hiwatt was a British company that manufactured amplifiers for electric guitars and electric basses. Starting in the late 1960s, together with Marshall and Vox, the company contributed to the sonic image popularly termed "British sound"....
amplifiers. He played a twelve-string Gibson B-45 on songs like "Closer to the Heart
Closer to the Heart
"Closer to the Heart" is a single by Rush, released in 1977, from the album A Farewell to Kings. It was the first Rush song to have an external co-writer, namely Peter Talbot, a friend of drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
."
From 1980 to 1986, Lifeson used four identically modified Stratocasters, all of them equipped with the Floyd Rose bridge. As a joke, he called these Hentor Sportscasters – a made-up name inspired by Peter Henderson's name, who was the producer of Grace Under Pressure
Grace Under Pressure (Rush album)
Grace Under Pressure is the tenth studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1984 . A symbol for the album is the letter "p" above a line with the letter "g" below ....
. He also played a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion. By 1987, Lifeson switched to Signature guitars (Canadian-made) which, while "awful to play--very uncomfortable--...had a particular sound I liked." Lifeson primarily used PRS
PRS Guitars
PRS Guitars is an American guitar manufacturer headquartered in Stevensville, Maryland. PRS Guitars was founded by guitarist and luthier Paul Reed Smith in 1985. The company is one of the leading manufacturers of high-end electric guitars.-Materials:...
guitars during the recording of Roll The Bones
Roll the Bones
Roll the Bones is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1991 . The album was recorded at Le Studio in Morin Heights and at McClear Place in Toronto with Rupert Hine returning as producer. The album won the 1992 Juno Award for best album cover design...
in 1990/1991. The last few years, he said in 2011, he has "used Gibson almost exclusively. There's nothing like having a low-slung Les Paul over my shoulder" In early 2011, Gibson introduced the "Alex Lifeson Axcess", a guitar specially designed for him. These are custom made Les Pauls with Floyd Rose systems on both of them. He mentioned the process taking two years to design a perfect guitar. He used these two custom Les Pauls on the Time Machine Tour. These guitars are also available through Gibson, in a viceroy Brown or Crimson color. Lifeson used these two guitars heavily on the tour.
In 2005, Hughes & Kettner introduced an Alex Lifeson signature series amplifier; $50 from each amplifier sold will be donated to UNICEF.
Other instruments played
In addition to traditional stringed instruments such as acoustic and electric guitars, Lifeson has also played mandolaMandola
The mandola or tenor mandola is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola , a fifth lower than a mandolin...
, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and bouzouki
Bouzouki
The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
on recent Rush studio albums, including Test for Echo
Test for Echo
Test for Echo is the sixteenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1996. The album marks the final Rush work prior to the events in Neil Peart's life that put the band on hiatus for several years...
, Vapor Trails
Vapor Trails
-Personnel:* Geddy Lee - bass guitar, vocals* Alex Lifeson - electric and acoustic guitars, mandola* Neil Peart - drums, percussion-Album:Billboard Music Charts -Singles:...
and Snakes & Arrows
Snakes & Arrows
Snakes & Arrows is the 18th full-length studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush. Co-produced by Nick Raskulinecz, it is Rush's first studio outing since 2004's Feedback, and their first complete studio album since Vapor Trails in 2002...
. During live Rush performances, Lifeson uses a MIDI controller
MIDI controller
MIDI controller is used in two senses.*In one sense, a controller is hardware or software which generates and transmits MIDI data to MIDI-enabled devices....
that enables him to use his feet to trigger sounds from digital samplers
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
, without taking his hands off his guitar. (Prior to this, Lifeson used Moog Taurus
Moog Taurus
The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music from 1974 or 1975 to 1981. Commonly called the Taurus I, it has a 13-note organ-style pedal board similar to the pedal keyboard of a spinet organ.-History:...
Bass Pedals before they were replaced by Korg MIDI pedals in the 1980s.) Lifeson and his bandmates share a desire to accurately depict songs from their albums when playing live performances. Toward this goal, beginning in the late 1980s the band equipped their live performances with a capacious rack of samplers. The band members use these samplers in real-time to recreate the sounds of non-traditional instruments, accompaniment
Accompaniment
In music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with an instrumental or vocal soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner...
s, vocal harmonies, and other sound "events" that are familiarly heard on the studio versions of the songs. In live performances, the band members share duties throughout most songs, with each member triggering certain sounds with his available limbs, while playing his primary instrument(s).
Awards
- "Best Rock Talent" by Guitar for the Practicing MusicianGuitar for the Practicing MusicianGuitar for the Practicing Musician was a guitar magazine published in the United States by Cherry Lane Music in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992, it was the most popular music publication at newsstands, selling 740,000 issues over a six-month period. It was popular for publishing songs with guitar and...
in 1983 - "Best Rock Guitarist" by Guitar Player Magazine in 1984 and May 2008
- Runner-up for "Best Rock Guitarist" in Guitar Player in 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986
- Inducted into the Guitar for the Practicing Musician Hall of Fame, 1991
- 1996 – Officer of the Order of CanadaOrder of CanadaThe Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, along with fellow bandmates Geddy LeeGeddy LeeGary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...
and Neil PeartNeil PeartNeil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer... - "Best Article" for "Different Strings" in Guitar Player (September issue).
- Most Ferociously Brilliant Guitar Album (Snakes & Arrows) – Guitar Player Magazine, May 2008