Rush, which played its final show in August 2015 and lost legendary drummer Neil Peart to cancer last week, turned down a recurring offer to play a Las Vegas residency.
The revelation of the offer came from journalist John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, who recalled a conversation that he had a few months ago with Bobby Reynolds, senior vice president of concert promoter AEG Live in Las Vegas.
When Katsilometes told Reynolds that he was “still waiting for a Rush residency,” Reynolds responded, “Rush was my first concert. I put every kind of damn offer you can put in front of Rush.”
Reynolds revealed that the offer was made in late 2015 through early 2016, with plans to have the Canadian trio play T-Mobile Arena four or six weekends a year. Reynolds explained, “Las Vegas would have been the only place you could see Rush, and I think it would have been incredible . . . You look at that opportunity now — we'll never know what it would have meant.”
Vegas has been home to concert residencies from some of the biggest names in the music business, including such rock acts as Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Guns N' Roses, Journey, Scorpions, Queen and others.
Rush's final show took place at the Forum in Los Angeles on August 1st, 2015. Neil Peart indicated at the time that he wanted to retire while he was still able to play well, along with a desire to spend more time at home with his young daughter.
Peart died on January 7th at the age of 67 from an aggressive form of brain cancer that he battled for more than three years. The band announced his passing on Friday (January 10th), setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from fans and musicians all over the world.