Alex Lifeson

Guitarist Extraordinaire

Alex is one of the most creative guitarists out there today. He may not be the best guitarist (that's Kirk Hammett) but he has a style that is all his own and the way that he mixes classical and Rock blows me away. Alex was born on August 27, 1953, in the mountain fishing port of Fernie, British Colombia. Alex's real name is Alex Zivojinovic. He started playing guitar when he was 12, having made an attempt at trying to learn (ugh) viola. His first six-string was an $11 Kent classic, which his father bought him as a Christmas present. A year later Alex acquired a $59 japanese electric model. He has stated that his early guitar influences are Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page. He was basically self-taught as a guitarist. His only formal training was during Rush's early days on the Toronto club circuit.

"A friend I went to school with taught classical guitar," Alex recalls. "He was a very good teacher and I studied with him for about a year and a half. That started around 1971, but then one day he was in a motorcycle accident and had to go to the hospital, so the lessons kind of fell off. Also, we's started to play in clubs a lot more, so I wouldn't really have had the time to keep them up anyway."

Other contemporary artists whom Alex admires include Paco De Lucia, Allan Holdsworth. Edward Van Halen, Andy Summers and Rory Gallagher. He is currently married and has two sons, Justin and Adrian. When not on tour, he spends time flying, and is in fact, a liscensed pilot. He also has a strong reputation in the group as a gourmet chef. What Alex has played over the years includes: electric guitars, six string acoustic, twelve string acoustic, bass pedal synthesizer, Roland guitar synthesizer, Taurus pedals, synthesizers, mandola, backing vocals