During a conversation with Eric Blair, Mike Portnoy talked about the rumors circulating online that he’s joining Rush as a replacement for Neil Peart.
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Asked if he spoke to Alex Lifeson or Geddy Lee about working with them in the future, Mike replied:
“Not recently. I had a brief e-mail exchange with Alex, I think when Neil announced his retirement.
“The reality is – look, those guys are my heroes and Neil as well, obviously. I would do it in a heartbeat if hypothetically it was ever asked.
“But I don’t think in a million years it would ever happen without all three of them. And I love and respect and honor Neil so much, I would never wanna do anything without his blessing.
“But that being said, in a hypothetical world, if the call ever came, yeah, it would be a dream gig for me. Of course.”
When the interviewer said that a new Lee-Lifeson collaboration would not be called Rush, which would make it easier for Portnoy to “slip right in there,” Mike replied:
“Hey, I know the tunes. I’ve been playing ’em my whole life. In fact, I just did a really cool Rush tribute. It’s a steel drum tribute, with a pan drum orchestra of 50 different steel drummers and myself on drums and guitar and bass.
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“We recorded a bunch of Rush songs, but with this 50-piece steel drum orchestra. It was really cool. That’s gonna be coming out in the next couple of months.”