Alex Lifeson

Lifeson was born Aleksandar Živojinović[9] (Serbian: Александар Живојиновић) in Fernie, British Columbia. His parents, Nenad and Melanija Živojinović, were Serb immigrants from Yugoslavia. He was raised in Toronto.[8] His stage surname of "Lifeson" is a calque of his birth surname Živojinović, which can be literally translated into English as "son of life".[10] His formal musical education began on the viola, but he abandoned it in favor of the guitar at the age of 12. Lifeson recalls what inspired him to play guitar in a 2008 interview:

My brother-in-law played flamenco guitar. He lent his guitar to me and I grew to like it. When you're a kid, you don't want to play an accordion because it would be too boring. But your parents might want you to play one, especially if you're from a Yugoslavian family like me.[11]

His first guitar was a Christmas gift from his father, a six-string Kent classical acoustic which was later replaced by an electric Japanese model. During his adolescent years, he was influenced primarily by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page,[12] Steve Hackett, and Allan Holdsworth;[13] 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."[14] 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's first girlfriend, Charlene, gave birth to their eldest son, Justin, in October 1970. The couple married in 1975, and their second son, Adrian, was born two years later. Adrian is also involved in music, and performed on "At the End" and "The Big Dance" from Lifeson's 1996 solo project, Victor.[15][16]

Lifeson during the 2010–2011 Time Machine Tour, Ahoy, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (27 May 2011).

Lifeson's neighbour John Rutsey began experimenting on a rented drum kit. In 1968, Lifeson and Rutsey formed The Projection, which disbanded a few months later. In August 1968, following the recruitment of original bassist and vocalist Jeff Jones, Lifeson and Rutsey founded Rush. Geddy Lee, a high school friend of Lifeson, assumed Jones's role soon after.[17]

Instrumentally, Lifeson is renowned for his signature riffing, electronic effects and processing, unorthodox chord structures, and the copious arsenal of equipment he has used over the years.[18][19][20]

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.[21] 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 riffs and solos in favour of "tonality and harmonic quality."[21]

During live performances, he used foot pedals to cue various synthesizer, guitar, and backing vocal effects as he played.

While the bulk of Lifeson's work in music has been with Rush, his first major outside work was his solo project, Victor, 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. The title track is from the W. H. Auden poem, also entitled "Victor". Both son Adrian and wife Charlene also contributed to the album.

Lifeson has also contributed to a body of work outside his involvement with the band in the form of instrumental contributions to other musical outfits. He made a guest appearance on the 1985 Platinum Blonde album Alien Shores 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 1997, he appeared on the Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas album. Lifeson played "The Little Drummer Boy" which was released as track 9 on the album.[22] 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). 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 appeared on the 2008 album Fly Paper by Detroit progressive rockers Tiles. He plays on the track "Sacred and Mundane". Outside band related endeavours, Lifeson composed the theme for the first season of the science-fiction TV series Andromeda. He also produced three songs from the album Away from the Sun by 3 Doors Down. He was executive producer and contributor to the 2014 album "Come to Life" by Keram Malicki-Sanchez - playing guitar on the songs "Mary Magdalene", "Moving Dark Circles" and "The Devil Knows Me Well," and later on Keram's subsequent singles "Artificial Intelligence," (2019), "That Light," (2020) and "Rukh." (2021). Alex Lifeson is featured on Marco Minnemann's 2017 release Borrego, on which he played guitars on three songs and co-wrote the track "On That Note". In 2018, he played lead guitar on Fu Manchu's 18-minute mostly instrumental track "Il Mostro Atomico" from the group's Clone of the Universe album.[23] In 2019 he was featured on the song "Charmed" from the Don Felder solo album American Rock 'n' Roll.[24]

On 15 June 2021, Lifeson released two new instrumental songs, "Kabul Blues" and "Spy House" on his website alexlifeson.com.[25] The songs were released as a self titled project. Andy Curran played bass on both songs, and drums on "Spy House" were done by David Quinton Steinberg.

The first single, "Liar", from Envy of None's debut album was released on 12 January 2022. Envy of None consists of Lifeson, Curran, singer Maiah Wynne, and producer and engineer Alfio Annibalini. Envy of None's self-titled debut album, which includes "Liar," "Kabul Blues," and "Spy House," was released on 8 April.[26]

Lifeson made his film debut as himself under his birth name in the 1973 Canadian documentary film Come on Children.[27]

He has appeared in several installments of the Canadian mockumentary franchise Trailer Park Boys. In 2003, he was featured in an episode titled "Closer to the Heart", playing a partly fictional version of himself. In the episode, 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 2017, Lifeson appeared in an episode of the spin-off series Trailer Park Boys: Out of the Park: USA titled "Memphis." He also voiced Big Chunk in the first season of Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series.

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.[28]

In 2009, he and the rest of the band appeared as themselves in the comedy I Love You, Man.[29]

Lifeson appears as the border guard in the 2009 movie Suck.[30]

Lifeson and bandmate Geddy Lee appear in the series Chicago Fire, season 4, episode 6, called "2112", which first aired on 17 November 2015.

The role of Dr. Funtime in The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour was originally written with Lifeson in mind, but due to scheduling conflicts the role was given to Maury Chaykin instead.[31]

Lifeson has penned forewords to four books: Behind the Stage Door by Rich Engler in 2013;[32] Shredders!: The Oral History Of Speed Guitar (And More) by Greg Prato in 2017;[33] Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass by Geddy Lee in 2018;[34] and Domenic Troiano: His Life and Music by Mark Doble and Frank Troiano in 2021.[35]

In Rush's early career, Lifeson used a Gibson ES-335 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."[14] For the A Farewell to Kings sessions, Lifeson began using a Gibson EDS-1275 for songs like "Xanadu"[40] and his main guitar became a white Gibson ES-355.[14] During this period Lifeson used Hiwatt amplifiers.[41] He played a twelve-string Gibson B-45 on songs like "Closer to the Heart."[14]

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.[42] He would start using them again twenty years later.[43] He also played a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion and an Ovation Adamas acoustic/electric guitar.[14] By 1987, Lifeson switched to Signature guitar despite describing them as "awful to play—very uncomfortable--...had a particular sound I liked."[14] Lifeson primarily used PRS guitars in the later-half of the 1990 Presto tour, and again during the recording of Roll The Bones in 1990/1991.[44] He would continue to play PRS for the next sixteen years through the recording and touring of Counterparts, Test for Echo and Vapor Trails as well as the R30 tour. During this period, he also played several Fender Telecasters.

In 2011, Lifeson said that for the past few years he "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 tremolo systems and piezoacoustic pick-ups. 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 colour. Lifeson used these two guitars heavily on the tour.[14]

For the 2012-2013 Clockwork Angels tour, Gibson built an Alex Lifeson Axcess model in black which became Lifeson's primary guitar for much of the show. For all acoustic work, he played one of his Axcess guitars using the piezo pick-ups; no acoustic guitars were used at all in the Clockwork Angels show.[45]

For the 2015 R40 Tour, Lifeson used his signature acoustic guitar model by Paul Reed Smith. The guitar is currently available for private stock order.

Gibson introduced an Alex Lifeson R40 Les Paul Axcess signature guitar in June 2015.[46] This is a limited edition with 50 guitars signed and played by Lifeson, and another 250 available without the signature.

At the 2017 Winter NAMM Show, Gibson representative Mike Voltz introduced an Antique White Gibson Custom Alex Lifeson Signature ES Les Paul semi-hollow guitar, a hybrid of a Les Paul Custom & an ES 335, with only 200 made. Mike also introduced the Antique White as a new color from Gibson for this Custom (note: Gibson names this color as 'Classic White' on their web site which may be an error due to other Gibson reps labeling it as Antique White). Alex played this Custom on the last Rush tour.

In 2005, Hughes & Kettner introduced an Alex Lifeson signature series amplifier; Lifeson donates his royalties from the sale of these signature models to UNICEF.[47]

In 2012, Lifeson abandoned his signature Triamps in favour of custom-built Lerxst Omega Silver Jubilee clones, handmade by Mojotone in Burgaw, NC and Mesa/Boogie Mark V heads. He still uses the Hughes & Kettner Coreblades.

For effects, Lifeson is known to use chorus, phase shifting, delay and flanging. Throughout his career, he has used well-known pedals such as the Echoplex delay pedal, Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger, the BOSS CE-1 chorus and the Dunlop crybaby wah, among others.[48][49][50]

Lifeson and his guitar technician Scott Appleton have discussed in interviews Lifeson's use of Fractal Audio's Axe-FX, Apple Inc.'s MainStage, and Native Instruments' Guitar Rig.[51]

In addition to acoustic and electric guitars, Lifeson has also played mandola, mandolin and bouzouki on some Rush studio albums, including Test for Echo, Vapor Trails and Snakes & Arrows. For his Victor project and Little Drummer Boy for the Merry Axemas album, he also played bass and programmed synthesizers.

During live Rush performances, Lifeson used MIDI controllers that enabled him to use his free hands and feet to trigger sounds from digital samplers and synthesizers, 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 shared 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 used these samplers in real-time to recreate the sounds of non-traditional instruments, accompaniments, vocal harmonies, and other sound "events" that are familiarly heard on the studio versions of the songs. In live performances, the band members shared duties throughout most songs, with each member triggering certain sounds with his available limbs, while playing his primary instrument(s).[1]

Following Rush's dissolution in 2018 and Neil Peart's death in 2020, Lifeson formed the supergroup Envy of None with himself on guitar, mandola and banjo, Alfio Annibalini on guitar and keyboards, Andy Curran on bass, guitar and backing vocals and Maiah Wynne on lead vocals and keyboards.