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Although
it's widely agreed that all three members of Rush are incredibly talented
at their respective instruments, guitarist Alex Lifeson tends to be
the most underrated of the bunch. Born Alex Zivojinovich on August 27,
1953 in Fernie, Canada (his parents were Yugoslavian immigrants), Lifeson
grew up in Toronto, and received his first guitar as a Christmas gift
when he was 13. Soonafter, Lifeson discovered rock n' roll (via the
usual suspects – Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, etc.), and began jamming
with local drummer John Rutsey. By the late ‘60s, bassist/vocalist Geddy
Lee had signed on with the group, as the trio focused primarily on perfecting
cover songs of Cream, Led Zeppelin, and the Who, among others. The group
slowly built a regional following, and eventually started penning their
own original songs (which were initially highly derivative of the aforementioned
bands they had been long covering – especially Zeppelin). The trio eventually
signed a recording contract with Polygram, who reissued their self-titled
debut in 1973 (which had previously been released independently). Rutsey
left the group soonafter, and the missing piece to the group's puzzle
came in the form of his replacement, Neil Peart, who besides being an
exceptional drummer, was also a quite gifted lyricist.
It took a few releases for the new line-up to truly gel, but with 1976's
breakthrough release, 2112, Rush had begun a journey that would eventually
establish them as one of hard rock's most popular and successful acts
in the whole world. During this string of classic albums, Lifeson's
fine guitar chops could be sampled on a variety of standout tracks,
especially “Xanadu" (1977's A Farewell to Kings), “La Villa Strangiato"
(1978's Hemispheres), “Freewill" (1980's Permanent Waves), and “YYZ"
(1981's Moving Pictures). Rush continued to tour the world and issue
hit albums throughout the ‘80s, but Lifeson's guitar work took a backseat,
due to the group's experiments with more textured, synthesizer-based
sounds. By the ‘90s, Rush's desire to return to more straight ahead,
hard rock-based material had returned, as Lifeson's guitar work once
more became more prominent, especially on such releases as 1993's Counterparts.
During the mid ‘90s, Lifeson participated in one-off side project, Victor,
a group that issued a self-titled debut in 1996, and included appearances
by Primus bassist Les Claypool and I Mother Earth vocalist Edwin. In
addition to his Rush duties, Lifeson has guested on recordings by other
artists, including Platinum Blonde (1985's Alien Shores), Tom Cochrane
(1995's Ragged Ass Road), and 3 Doors Down (the 2001 ‘bonus CD' reissue
of Better Life). Besides music, Lifeson also owns a small invention
company, The Omega Concern, and is one of the owners of a Toronto restaurant,
The Orbit Room.
This
bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
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