Rush’s Geddy Lee has said he did not want ‘Tom Sawyer’ to be included on the ‘Moving Pictures’ album as he was so “sick” of it.
The song ended up on the 1981recordand it went on to become one of the defining songs of the band’s career, receiving heavy radio and MTV airplay, and eventually being inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
But in a new interview, bassist and singer Leehas saidthat the recording process for the track was such a challenge that hedidn’teven want to follow it throughto completion.
Speaking with Rick Beato on YouTube, he was asked why the song resonated with audiences. “I’m the last guy to know because when we finished that song in the studio, we were so frustrated,” he replied.
“It wasa very difficultsong to make [and] difficult song to mix. Every step of the recording was beset with problems. And at the end, I was so sick of that fucking song, Ididn’twant to put it on the record.”
“So, can you imagine how dumb that was?”headded. “Like,let’snot put our most popular song on the record.”
Rush played their first show together since 2015 in March, alongside their new drummer Anika Nilles. Shehas been drafted in to replace the legendary Neil Peart,who died from brain cancer in early 2020.
The band played vintage footage from Peart on big screens behind them during the show at the Juno Awards in their native Canada.
Rush have also announced that they will be touring across the UK, Europe and South America in 2027.24 shows in 13 countries have been confirmed, marking the first time they will have played in Europe since 2013, and their first visit to South America in 17 years.
UK shows include a stop at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on March 8, a show at the Co-op Live in Manchester on March 12, and two gigs at The O2 in London on March 16 and 18.Check out a full list of dateshere, andvisit herefor UK tickets, andherefor international tickets.