Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee has teamed up with film maker Sam Dunn (Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Iron Maiden: Flight 666) for a new four-part TV documentary series, Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?
The Paramount+ series will feature Lee taking a deep dive into the lives of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, Primus bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, and former Hole/Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf der Maur, making music, and taking part in a range of extracurricular activities, from canning tomatoes with Novoselic, to surfing with Trujillo.
“I’m trying to show the world that a bass player can do many things,” a deadpan Lee says in the trailer. “Join me as I travel to the homes of four bass legends and dive deep into their lives. And their inspirations. Plus some fun making music, as I try to answer one really important question: Are bass players human too?”
“The idea for this show was born out of interviews I did for my first book The Big, Beautiful Book of Bass,” says Lee. “I was struck that these accomplished musicians also lived incredibly interesting, multifaceted lives offstage. Who knew bass players were so effin’ human?”
Who indeeed?
Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too? will premiere on Paramount+ on December 5 in the US and Canada, and December 6 in the UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
- "I felt sad to see such joy in Neil’s face when we were down to the last few bars of our last song we played together": A Farewell to Kings - Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson look back on 50 years of Rush
- “I’d rather be remembered for our legacy than returning as the top Rush tribute band”: Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee are jamming together – but they have no plans to resurrect Rush with a new drummer
Watch the trailer below:
December also sees Lee undertaking a run of spoken word live shows in the UK.
The Geddy Lee In Conversation evenings will feature Rush's frontman reading key passages from his long-awaited memoir My Effin' Life and sharing thoughts and stories with a guest interviewer. Attendees will also have the chance to participate in a special Q&A, with Lee answering their questions directly.
The tour calls at:
Dec 10: Wolverhampton The Civic At The Halls
Dec 13: Sheffield City Hall
Dec 14: Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Dec 17: Portsmouth Guildhall
Dec 18: London Barbican
"Writing this book has meant spending so much time living in the past," Lee says. “I’ve never lived my life looking anywhere but forward, which is why I resisted doing this kind of thing for so long. Being in a band all those years was reassuring because it was an ongoing thing. It felt like it was forever.
"There was always unfinished business: the next record, the next set design, the next tour. It’s been the theme of my life. But you need a lot more determination to proceed in the world of music without the comfort of your bandmates, and I can only hope that finishing this book will release me to return to what I do and love best."
