Rush Honored in Canada

Posted on May 7th 2012 1:45PM by Amy Sciarretto Comments

Jag Gundu, Getty Images

Congrats are in order for Canada's prog rock institution and beloved rockers Rush. The band nabbed the Governor's General Performing Arts Award in their home country this past weekend (May 5.)

Vocalist/bassist/keyboardist Geddy Lee and co. were the guests of honor at the event, which was held at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Saturday. Each member of the band, rounded out by drummer Neil Peart and guitarist Alex Lifeson, was granted a commemorative medal and a $25,000 prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. Not too shabby, right? It's quite refreshing to see an arts organization in Canada pay tribute to the long-lasting legacy of Rush.

"Being a Canadian and seeing how our country treats artists, I think this is a great program to inspire young artists and I'm very proud to be a part of it," Lee said in an acceptance speech at the fete. "I'm so proud of Canada for doing such a thing. To value artists and to celebrate art is a real pat on the back for artists."

South Park creator Matt Stone, who worshipped Rush while growing up, was on hand to pay tribute to the group in a speech, fondly recalling, "I remember buying their cassettes, tearing home on my BMX, running inside and throwing them into my Walkman, and sitting down to my drum set and just destroying my mom's afternoon. Rush was definitely the first band I ever loved."

Clockwork Angels, the Rush's 20th studio album, will be released on June 12. It will be the trio's first new collection of original material in over five years and their first studio release via Anthem/Roadrunner records.

Watch Rush's "Headlong Flight" Lyric Video

Rush tour dates:

Sep-7 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Arena
Sep-9 Washington, DC Jiffy Lube Live Amphitheater
Sep-11 Pittsburgh, PA CONSOL Energy Center
Sep-13 Indianapolis, IN Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Sep-15 Chicago, IL United Center
Sep-18 Detroit, MI Palace of Auburn Hills
Sep-20 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
Sep-22 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
Sep-24 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
Sep-26 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
Sep-28 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre
Sep-30 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
Oct-10 Bridgeport, CT Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard
Oct-12 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Oct-14 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
Oct-18 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
Oct-20 Newark, NJ Prudential Center
Oct-22 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center
Oct-24 Boston, MA TD Garden
Oct-26 Buffalo, NY First Niagara Center
Oct-28 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
Oct-30 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena
*Nov-1 Atlanta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Nov-3 Tampa, FL 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre
Nov-13 Seattle, WA KeyArena
Nov-15 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion
Nov-17 Anaheim, CA Honda Center
Nov-19 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheatre
Nov-23 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
Nov-25 Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center
Nov-28 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
Nov-30 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
Dec-2 Houston, TX Toyota Center

*Atlanta tickets through usual outlets, not a Live Nation Event

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