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Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Fri, Dec 13, 2024

CORRECTION: Geddy Lee will NOT perform with Yes at the band's 2017 Rock Hall induction

Wed, Mar 8, 2017@4:16PM | comments

UPDATE - 3/8@9:15PM: Here's the update to the Billboard story:

UPDATE: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation sent a statement to Billboard after this story was published denying that Lee would perform at the ceremony. "Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were only confirmed to do the induction speech for one of their favorite bands and not perform. They, like all the other Yes fans, look forward to honoring them and watching them perform at the induction ceremony on April 7 and the HBO broadcast on April 29."

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UPDATE - 3/8@6:55PM: According to Rush's management Geddy will actually NOT be performing with Yes and they are working on getting Billboard to retract/correct the story.

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will have the honor of inducting Yes into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the April 7th induction ceremony at the Barclays Center in New York next month. The members of Yes that will be inducted are Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, Alan White, Tony Kaye, Trevor Rabin and Chris Squire - whose wife Scottie will be accepting on her late husband's behalf. Yes founding member and original vocalist Jon Anderson was recently interviewed by Billboard to discuss the band's induction and revealed some news regarding Geddy Lee's involvement in the band's planned performance:

... Yes inductor Geddy Lee of Rush will be taking the late Chris Squire's place for "Roundabout," according to Anderson, and the group is also contemplating playing "I've Seen All Good People" and "Owner Of A Lonely Heart." Squire, the sole musician to remain with Yes until his death in 2015, will be represented by his widow. "Chris is going to be there in spirit," Anderson says. "He always believed that we should have been in the Hall of Fame 10, 29 years ago. It wasn't high on my agenda; 'It happens when it happens' was my mantra. But we know Chris will be there in spirit, in energy. I loved the guy very much. Without him I wouldn't be here, that's for sure. ...

Speaking of the late bass legend, Squire actually mentioned wanting Rush to induct the band during an interview a few years ago:

I haven't given it much thought, maybe those Rush guys who got in last year! I'm pretty good friends with Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins (of the Foo Fighters) and they did a great speech for Rush... so probably not them, since they just did one. But if you know Geddy (Lee), let him know that that would be fine by me. I don't know how these things work, though, I don't know how much control we have, how much control the voting committee has, and of course we're still kind of wondering how many members of Yes would be inducted.

Tickets for the 32nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony went on sale early last month and quickly sold out. There are still plenty of overpriced tickets available on Ticket Broker websites though. The other inductees for 2017 are ELO, Joan Baez, Journey, Nile Rogers, Pearl Jam, and Tupac Shakur. Neil Young and Jackson Browne will be inducting Pearl Jam and Joan Baez respectively. Tickets for the 32nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame have long since sold out, but there are still plenty of overpriced tickets available on Ticket Broker websites.

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