Hello, Cleveland? Rush inducted into Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame

The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, which has traditionally shone its spotlight on such folk heroes as Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot, chose a more progressive band this year, giving homegrown heroes Rush some much-deserved love. It’s nice that our hall of fame appreciates the Holy Triumvirate, since those squares at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland haven’t.

During the induction ceremony, which took place on Sunday, such younger acts as Alexisonfire and Christian folk artist Jacob Moon performed some of Rush’s big hits. The band seemed genuinely pleased with the honour, maybe because their complex song structures aren’t immediately accessible, or possibly because songs about space voyages don’t often get respect (David Bowie hits notwithstanding).

“When we tried to write songs that are simple and uncomplicated, it didn’t work,” Rush vocalist Geddy Lee told the Star. “One of our producers used to tell us, ‘You’d have a lot of hits if only someone else recorded them.’”

With last year’s rock-out appearance in I Love You, Man (wherein Lee was seen slappin’ da bass) and the career-spanning documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage screening at Hot Docs, it’s totally unironically cool to like Rush. We’re waiting for the same thing to happen for Gowan.

• Geddy Lee humbled as Rush joins songwriters hall of fame [Toronto Star]