RUSH's GEDDY LEE Announces U.K. Spoken-Word Tour For December 2023

"Geddy Lee In Conversation", a series of intimate dates across the United Kingdom, will see the RUSH singer/bassist bring to life his forthcoming memoir, "My Effin' Life", due for release on November 14.

The evening promises to be an extraordinary experience, a once-in-a-life-time event. After the curtain rises, Lee will give his fans a peek into the very fabric of his life: from a deep reflection into his family and childhood, to a steep dive into the history of RUSH; from the determined pursuit of music, to the personal memories of his lifelong friends and bandmates Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart.

Joined on stage by a special guest interviewer, Geddy will readkey passages from his forthcoming book "My Effin' Life"; he will then share thoughts and stories taken from his experience. Fans will then have the chance to participate in a special question-and-answer session, with Geddy answering their questions directly.

Says Geddy: "Writing this book has meant spending so much time living in the past. I've never lived my life looking anywhere but forward, which is why I resisted doing this kind of thing for so long.

"Being in a band all those years was reassuring because it was an ongoing thing. It felt like it was forever. There was always unfinished business: the next record, the next set design, the next tour. It's been the theme of my life. But you need a lot more determination to proceed in the world of music without the comfort of your bandmates, and I can only hope that finishing this book will release me to return to what I do and love best."

The U.K. tour will kick off in Wolverhampton and will end in London. North American dates to be announced.

Each U.K. ticket purchased will include a copy of the book via the tour partner Waterstones.

U.K. spoken-word tour dates:

Dec. 10 - Wolverhampton, The Civic at The Halls
Dec. 13 - Sheffield, City Hall
Dec. 14 - Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
Dec. 17 - Portsmouth, Guildhall
Dec. 18 - London, Barbican

* Pre-sale (Barbican members): Wednesday, September 27 at 10 a.m. BST
* Venue Pre-sales: Thursday, September 28 at 10 a.m. BST
* General on sale: Friday, September 29 at 10 a.m. BST

"My Effin' Life", which was edited Noah Eaker, will be 512 pages and be available as a hardcover or as an e-book.

Lee shared the news of his memoir in an Instagram post in September 2021. At the time, he wrote: "So, how did I kill time during the pandemic? Little did I know that as of March 2020 I'd be locked down for over a year and a half—the longest time I'd spent in Toronto since I was nineteen and hit the Northern Ontario bar circuit with RUSH.

"Although [my wife] Nancy and I had to cancel a bunch of adventures we'd been planning, there were some shiny silver linings to be found at home: teaching my grandson the finer points of baseball and birdwatching, tending to my pups (one of whom was quite ill) and spending the evenings with my lovely better half, glass of Armagnac in hand, as we watched every European mystery show ever produced. Oh, and another thing: I began to write. Words, that is.

"My friend and collaborator on the 'Big Beautiful Book Of Bass', Daniel Richler, saw how I was struggling in the aftermath of [RUSH drummer] Neil's [Peart] passing, and tried coaxing me out of my blues with some funny tales from his youth, daring me to share my own in return. So I did—reluctantly at first, but then remembering, oh yeah, I like wrestling with words. It's a less physical version of arguing with musical notes, without a Ricky doubleneck breaking my back! And soon my baby-step stories were becoming grownup chapters. Being the nuclear obsessive that I am, I'd write and re-write them, reassessing perspectives in the narrative not just by scouring my memory banks but my diaries and piles of photo albums too. I was piecing together a mystery of a different kind.

"I'd then send these improved and even illustrated stories to Daniel, who'd clean up some of the grammar and remove a lot of the swearing (I love to fucking swear),and presto! In a voice that sounded, well, just like me, a presentable, epic-length account of my life on and off the stage was taking shape: my childhood, my family, the story of my parents' survival, my travels and all sorts of nonsense I've spent too much time obsessing over. And Daniel said, 'I think you're writing a book. An actual memoir, in fact.' To which I replied, 'Hmm… I guess I am.'

In September 2022, Lee and Lifeson joined Dave Grohl, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS' Chad Smith and TOOL's Danny Carey onstage at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles to pay tribute to late FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Lee and Lifeson previously reunited in August 2022 at Red Rocks and then again in early September 2022 at the London edition of the Hawkins tribute.