MY Effin' LIFE

This memoir by the bassist, singer, and keyboardist of the Canadian rock trio Rush traces a life shaped by the Holocaust, immigrant striving, and four decades of musical ambition. It is not part of a series.

Geddy Lee was born Gershon Eliezer Weinrib in Toronto, named after a maternal grandfather murdered by the Nazis. His parents, Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivors, arrived in Canada in December 1948 speaking almost no English; immigration officials anglicized their names, so Manya became Mary and Moishe became Morris. At 16, Lee discovered his birth certificate listed his middle name as "Lee" rather than "Lorne," a mix-up his mother sheepishly admitted. A childhood friend, mishearing his mother's accented pronunciation of "Garshon," dubbed him "Geddy." He later combined the nickname with his rediscovered middle name to form his stage identity.

Lee grew up unaware that his father once played the balalaika, a triangular-bodied stringed instrument, at social events in prewar Poland. Morris, a loving but strict man, worked factory jobs in Toronto's garment district. In 1964, the Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show introduced rock and roll into the household. On October 8, 1965, Morris died in his sleep at 45; Lee, 12 and home sick with the flu, awakened to his mother's screams and saw his father's lifeless body. His death was attributed to heart damage from six years of slave labor in Nazi concentration camps. As the eldest male in an Orthodox Jewish family, Lee was required to say Kaddish, the prayer for the dead, three times daily for 11 months. He performed his bar mitzvah from memory and resolved to abandon religious observance. His extended family berated him for quitting Hebrew school, but no one asked how he was coping, a slight he never forgave.

The memoir details his parents' wartime experiences. Lee's mother, born in Warsaw in 1925, grew up in the southern Polish town of Starachowice-Wierzbnik. When Germany invaded on September 1, 1939, 14-year-old Manya was caught in bombing and hid overnight among dead soldiers. Lee's grandfather Gershon was arrested in winter 1940 and deported to the Treblinka extermination camp, where he was killed. When the ghetto was liquidated in October 1942, the family was sent to slave labor camps. Lee's father, Moishe, began a secret courtship with Manya in the camps. In July 1944, survivors were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Manya was tattooed as prisoner A14254. Josef Mengele subjected Manya and her sister Yita to repeated blood extractions, believing them to be twins. A transfer to Bergen-Belsen likely saved their lives, though Manya contracted typhus; her mother Rose hid her from soldiers who came to kill the sick. The British Army liberated Bergen-Belsen on April 15, 1945. Moishe found Manya alive, and they married before emigrating to Canada. In 1995, Lee accompanied his mother to the 50th-anniversary commemoration at Bergen-Belsen. His mother declared she had "won the war" by standing on German soil with her three children.

After his year of mourning ended in 1966, Lee plunged into music. He bought a bass guitar and met Alex Živojinović (later Alex Lifeson) at school. They bonded over blues-based rock. On September 13, 1968, Lee filled in on bass at a Rush gig in a church basement, joining Lifeson and drummer John Rutsey, and soon became a permanent member. When Rutsey, wanting a hipper image for the band, briefly replaced Lee, the new lineup quickly fell apart, and Rutsey called Lee back. Lee dropped out of high school, devastating his mother, and resolved to justify the decision through success.

Rush built a following on Toronto's bar circuit. Lee became the primary lyricist after Rutsey failed to deliver lyrics for their first recording session. Producer Terry Brown rescued the debut album's thin sound and became the band's longtime mentor. DJ Donna Halper at WMMS in Cleveland played "Working Man" heavily, helping secure a deal with Mercury Records. Rutsey's declining health led to his departure in July 1974. Neil Peart auditioned on July 28, arriving with his drums in garbage bags; Lee was electrified by Peart's powerful playing and hired him immediately.

Peart's literary ambitions pushed the band toward progressive rock. Caress of Steel was poorly received, and the subsequent "Down the Tubes Tour" saw them playing diminishing venues. They recorded 2112 in February 1976, a 20-minute rock opera inspired by Ayn Rand's novella Anthem about an individual who rediscovers music in a totalitarian future. The album achieved unexpected success. Lee reflects that the experience taught him an artist's greatest asset is the word "no."

Lee married Nancy Young in June 1976; Nancy converted to Judaism as an olive branch to Lee's mother. The band toured relentlessly, and cocaine entered the lifestyle around 1977, though Lee eventually quit. The Hemispheres sessions proved the most arduous of Lee's career; he had written melodies in unsingable keys and had his only career meltdown. Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures marked creative and commercial peaks; the latter reached number one in Canada and number three in both the US and UK. Lee's son Julian was born in 1980. Lee became enamored with synthesizers, and Lifeson felt marginalized by the expanding keyboards. After parting with Brown in 1982, the band searched for new producers. Lee and Nancy drifted apart; marriage counseling helped them reconnect.

On August 10, 1997, Peart's 19-year-old daughter Selena was killed in a car accident. Peart fell into Lee's arms at the family gathering. Peart's wife Jackie was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and died on June 20, 1998, barely 10 months later. Devastated, Peart set out alone on his motorcycle across North America, sending Lee and Lifeson occasional anonymous postcards.

During the hiatus, Lee collaborated with violinist and songwriter Ben Mink on a solo album, My Favourite Headache. Peart signaled his readiness to return. The grueling Vapor Trails sessions led to a reunion tour in 2002; Lee fought back tears on opening night in Hartford, Connecticut. Rush toured Latin America for the first time, discovering massive fan bases they had long underestimated.

John Rutsey died at 55; Lee attended the funeral and reflected on their shared beginnings. Clockwork Angels, released in 2012, drew on Voltaire's Candide and steampunk aesthetics; Lee came to regard it as among their finest work. Close friend and photographer Andrew MacNaughtan died suddenly during the sessions. In late 2014, Peart told his bandmates he was pondering retirement; Lifeson too was nearing the end due to worsening health issues. Lee designed the R40 farewell tour as a reverse retrospective through the band's history. The final show took place at the LA Forum on August 1, 2015. After the last notes of "Working Man," Peart crossed to center stage for a final group hug. No proper farewell ever took place afterward.

In late August 2016, Peart emailed his bandmates to say he had a brain tumor: glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, with an 18-month prognosis. He demanded secrecy. During visits, Peart revealed he had been listening to every Rush album in sequence, expressing pride in all they had accomplished. He outlasted the prognosis, surviving three and a half years. On January 7, 2020, Neil Peart died.

Lee's mother died in July 2021 at 95 after battling dementia worsened by pandemic isolation. Writing the memoir during lockdown became a "healing road." In 2022, Lee and Lifeson performed at a tribute concert for Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins at the LA Forum, the site of Rush's final show; Lee identifies the performance as the end of his mourning for Peart and the band. He insists musicians do not retire but simply leave the door ajar. The memoir closes with his grandson Finnian's discovery that a small star is named after Lee. "Wow, Zaidy," the boy says. "One day you're gonna be famous."