Rush: Rush was formed in 1975 by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and John Rutsey who was replaced by Neil Peart.
Geddy Lee's real name is Gary Lee Weinrib, but he cut out his last name and changed his first to "Geddy" in honor of his grandmother who was yiddish and that was how she pronounced "Garry". Geddy Lee is the bassist and singer for Rush, and is famous for both. His singing is instantly recognizeable and higher than most dare go. Unfortunately, he damaged his voice and now has to take it down a couple of octaves. He was also practically the first bassist to incorporate complicated bass lines and melodies into rock. This is part of the reason that they were considered "progressive".
Alex Lifeson's original last name was Zivojinovich, but he changed it for the sake of spelling and pronunciation. Heck, I'm not actually sure if
I spelled that right. He is Rush's guitarist and isone of incredible skill. He is definitely one of rock's all-time tops.
John Rutsey was the band's original drummer, but after the first Canadian tour, he decided that the rockstar life wasn't for him for a multitude of reasons, includng his health. He quit just before the first American tour, so Rush quickly recruited a new drummer - Neil Peart. Neil Peart is still revered by many as rock's greatest drummer. Along with his great skill, he also has a talent for writing lyrics. After Rutsey left, Neil became the band's lead lyricist. Many of his lyrics, such as the epic 2112 and Red Barchetta are based around his liking of science fiction.
Rush has recently celebrate their 30 years together with the R30 tour, and more recently released the R30 DVD containing the live show along with 2 cd's holding the audio version. They are one of the most influential bands of all time and helped propel Canadian music onto a global scale.
Recommendations: 2112 (7 part song), Red Barchetta, and YYZ. If you're interested after that, there's also Tom Sawyer, Working man, and innumerable classics.
Enjoy