"They couldn't have been nicer, and it really lifted us at a moment when we could have used the lifting": Geddy Lee reveals how Robert Plant and Jimmy Page helped Rush overcome grief and loss

09 Jan 2024, 15:42 · louder

By Paul Brannigan
( Classic Rock )
published 9 January 2024

Led Zeppelin were a musical inspiration for Rush, but as Geddy Lee explains, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page also proved themselves to be decent human beings at a "dark, sad time"

(Image credit: Mark Sullivan/FilmMagic | Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)

Rush vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee spoke last year about Paul McCartney encouraging him and guitarist Alex Lifeson to get their band back on the road, and on his recent book tour to promote his autobiography My Effin' Life, Lee revealed that McCartney wasn't the first of his heroes to reach out to him and Lifeson while they were grieving.

On the Los Angeles date of his book tour, at the Orpheum Theatre, Lee revealed to the evening's host, long-time Rush fan Jack Black, that he and Robert Plant had first connected while both men were holidaying in Morocco in the mid '90s. The story was Lee and his wife Nancy were on a cycling holiday and had rented a bungalow at La Roseraie in the Atlas Mountains, and were astonished to discover that Plant was in residence in a bungalow facing their own. The two musicians subsequently met at dinner in the hotel, and shared stories about their travel experiences, and "hit it off really well" according to Lee, who described the former Led Zeppelin frontman as "friendly and charming."

Lee told Black that Plant subsequently reached out to him a couple of years later, in the summer of 1998, in the immediate aftermath of the death of drummer Neil Peart's partner, Jacqueline Taylor. As he recalls, he received a note from Rush's management's office saying that "some joker pretending to be Robert Plant" had phoned asking to speak with him, and had left a number for Lee to call. When Lee did so, Plant invited him to attend the upcoming Page and Plant show at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre on July 4.

"I said, Look, I don't know if I can come down, because of this bad thing that just happened," Lee told Black. "And he said, 'Look, I've had my own share of loss, and you have to get on with your life, and sooner is better than later. I want you to come down, call Alex [Lifeson] up, just come down.' And so I called Al, and we went down to the concert, and they couldn't have been nicer to us: Robert was just so charming, and Jimmy was great, and it really lifted us, at a moment when we could have used the lifting."

Black then told Lee that the story touched him because, on a personal level, he was never sure whether it was appropriate to reach out to friends at a time of loss.

"That story made me feel like, yeah, it's okay," he told Lee, "and in fact, when people are hurting like that, a lot of times, they need you the most."

On the flipside, Lee also recently revealed on The Strombo Show podcast that certain musicians had been "inappropriate" in their approaches to him after Neil Peart's death.

"I heard from all kinds," said Lee. "That was a very weird moment. My little black book got filled up really quickly. It was like, Whoa, that’s just so inappropriate right now. Dude, wait two months. At least two months, if ever."

Watch that interview below:

Classic Rock Newsletter

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors

Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.

More about classic rock

"My forte, my strength in Metallica, was the live show. That is all that mattered to me, everything else came second." Jason Newsted on what made him such a vital part of Metallica during his time with the band

"Why didn’t you guys call me?" Ozzy Osbourne calls T-Pain's cover of Black Sabbath classic War Pigs the best ever - and T-Pain is delighted
Latest

“I’m some old fart of a rock singer and this has given me a purpose." The Who's Roger Daltrey looks back on his time working on Teenage Cancer Trust shows, says he had to "beg" bands to perform
See more latest ►

By Jerry Ewing10 January 2024

Xmal Deutschland announce reissue of Early Singles (1981-1982), frontwoman Anja Huwe shares details of debut solo album

By Liz Scarlett10 January 2024

Iamthemorning announce live show with Randy McStine as support

By Jerry Ewing10 January 2024

John Mitchell announces London show

By Jerry Ewing10 January 2024

"He's jetlagged, he's dead, he wants to see a real ****ing circle pit!" Watch Bad Omens' Noah Sebastian join Bring Me The Horizon on stage for a ripping Antivist in Cardiff last night