Rush‘s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson surprised attendees this past Thursday night (May 23) by appearing at the Gordon Lightfoot tribute concert in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The renowned musicians joined Blue Rodeo at Massey Hall, where they performed Lightfoot‘s classic “The Way I Feel.”
After their performance, Lee shared with The Canadian Press the reasons behind their participation in the “Celebrating Gordon Lightfoot” event. “Gordon Lightfoot was to musicians of my generation a true Canadian musical hero — and to boot he was a really sweet person,” Lee said. “Both Alex and I really wanted to pay tribute.”
The concert also featured performances by notable artists such as folk singer Meredith Moon, Tom Cochrane, Dallas Green of City and Colour, and Sylvia Tyson of the 1960s folk duo Ian & Sylvia, among others.
Following Lightfoot‘s passing in May 2023 at the age of 84, Geddy Lee expressed his admiration and grief on Instagram, reminiscing about their first meeting and Lightfoot‘s unwavering support. “The first time we met was outside a local award show at a club in Toronto – a legendary poet, a songwriting inspiration – a gem of a man – I loved him. He used to bring his daughter who was a fan, to our shows, and he’d sit with her in the audience getting blasted with volume for three hours.”
Lee also recalled a recent, unexpected call from Lightfoot: “A few months back he phoned me out of the blue, for no other reason than to say he’d just watched one of our concert films and really loved it. Every time I ran into him the first thing he would ask was how many gigs we’d done that year – he’d then proudly counter with the fact that he had played even more!”
Concluding his heartfelt tribute, Lee wrote, “RIP Gord – you are the man – the greatest Canadian. #gordonlightfoot”.
