Out today (Tuesday, Nov. 14th) is Rush bassist Geddy Lee's memoir "My Effin' Life." It's the follow-up to his "Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass" in 2018 and takes a 512-page look at Lee's life, from his upbringing in Toronto as the child of Holocaust survivors to the present day, including the death of Rush drummer Neil Peart in 2020 and time he's spending as a grandfather. Although he enjoyed the process, Lee tells us that until Peart's death and the pandemic lockdown he never entertained the idea of a memoir:
"I was reluctant to do such a book. I was always looking forward. I live my life trying to reach out. I just looked at my life as being filled with some unfinished business — I don't know what that business was, necessarily, I just know there's more to do and it seemed to slow you down to spend so much time looking behind you. And besides, I thought, 'I'm way too young to do this kind of thing.' But a few things changed my thinking." SOUNDCUE :41 OC: changed my thinking
Lee adds that the book was initially 1,200 pages long and went through an arduous editing process.
Lee has begun a My Effin' Life In Conversation tour, talking about the book with guest interviewers and answering fan questions. The tour plays 14 cities through December 7th.
Lee will accompany "My Effin' Life" with an audio book that will include two "lost demos" from his 2000 solo album "My Favorite Headache."
After "My Effin' Life" Lee is planning other books, including one about one of his other great passions, baseball. He also plans on making some new music, possibly with Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson.
In addition to the tour and book Lee is launching a four-part docuseries "Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?," which premieres December 5th on Paramount Plus and features episodes with Les Claypool of Primus, Nirvana's Krist Novoselic, Metallica's Robert Trujillo and Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole and Smashing Pumpkins.