Rush’s Alex Lifeson Gets Honest on His Arthritis Getting Worse: ”Is What It Is”

Helping form the iconic band, Rush, Alex Lifeson watched as his time in the spotlight only grew as the group toured and shared music with fans for nearly 50 years. While continuing to play music, the guitarist, who is 70 years old, recently detailed his struggles with arthritis. With the arthritis causing inflammation and swelling around his joints, Lifeson admitted that the condition is only “getting worse.” Not letting the arthritis define him, the guitarist explained how he is used to it.

Sitting down to talk about his career with Rush and his health concerns on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, Lifeson discussed how he suffered from psoriatic arthritis for over two decades. Although the guitarist uses medication to deal with the arthritis, he explained its progression over the years. “I would say that’s slowly getting worse, as to be expected. I have psoriatic arthritis, and I’ve been dealing with it for quite a while – for almost 20 years. I’m on two biologics, so sort of like a double whammy in dealing with it. And it’s been very, very effective.”

Alex Lifeson Shares Struggles With Being Inspired

Not focusing on the negative when it comes to his arthritis, Lifeson shared some good news. “Despite the side effects and all of that, it’s been a really effective regimen for me, and it’s really helped my hands. I have times where the inflammation has its own mind, and that’s when you’ll see me shaking my hands [while I am playing]. But it is what it is, and I can still get by, and I’m so used to it, I don’t really even think about it that much anymore.”

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While loving his time on stage with Rush, Lifeson isn’t looking to return to tour anytime soon. “[After] 40 years of touring, I’m not interested in touring anymore. I enjoyed it when we did it. There were lots of ups and downs.”

Back in 2020, after drummer Neil Peart’s death, the guitarist even shared how he lost his inspiration to play music. At the time, Lifeson noted, “Every time I pick up a guitar, I just aimlessly kind of mess around with it and put it down after 10 minutes. Normally, I would pick up a guitar and I would play for a couple of hours without even being aware that I’m spending that much time. So I know it’ll come back.”

(Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)