Rush released their self-titled debut album in the 70s and not long after was already touring across the United States opening concerts for Kiss. After the late legendary drummer Neil Peart joined the group in 1975, the Canadian group which also had Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, became even more creative and evolved to be one of the most influential bands of all time.
In the 70s, the three musicians were only in their 20s and were enjoying the Rock and Roll life. However, as Geddy Lee revealed in an interview with Prog magazine in 2013, that there was only one band that could outdrink them back then.
The band Geddy Lee said was the only one to outdrink Rush in the 70s
When you think about bands that used to party a lot, you usually don’t mention Rush but according to the band’s bassist, singer and keyboardist Geddy Lee, they used to be heavy drinkers. That’s why he told Prog magazine that the only group which could outdrink them back then was probably UFO.
“We were kids and we did all that stupid stuff. Drinking too much, smoking too much and staying up all night. The guys in UFO were really a lot of fun, and so were the Thin Lizzy boys. But really, we didn’t hold a candle to UFO. We’re good Canadian boys, and back then we were green, very wide-eyed. We were fairly nerdy, but we did have our moments. We partied. And we certainly liked to hang around and … smoke (laughs).”
“But no one could compete with UFO. We had 10 too many drinks with UFO on a regular basis. And we might have been able to out-drink them for a short period of time, but over a long period of time, their stamina was quite remarkable. Pete Way (bassist) was a force of nature.”
He continued:
“Most people actually need to be sober at some point during the day, but he didn’t seem to require that. I remember one gig where we were backstage listening to them play and the bass just disappeared. And of course he’d fallen off the stage.”
“For Pete, it was always time for a drink. One time I was on our bus listening to a Bill Bruford solo album with Jeff Berlin’s bass playing on it when Pete came in. He used to call me Glee, and he said, ‘Glee, what are you doing?’ I said, ‘Check this bass player out.’ And he was shaking his head, saying, ‘Don’t do it! You shouldn’t listen to this, Glee. It’s a bad influence. Come on, let’s go and have a few drinks!'” Geddy Lee said.
The two bands toured together in 1977, when the British band had just released their classic album “Lights Out”. Their line-up had Phil Mogg (Vocals), Michael Schenker (Guitar), Pete Way (Bass), Paul Raymond (Keyboards, guitar) and Andy Parker (Drums).
At the time, Rush had already released their self-titled album, “Fly By Night” (1975), “Caress Of Steel” (1975), “2112” (1976) and “A Farewell To Kings” (1977).