Rush frontman Geddy Lee is set to release a memoir, written as a means of coping with the loss of legendary drummer and longtime friend Neil Peart during the coronavirus pandemic.

• READ MORE: Neil Peart obituary, 1952-2020: The Professor of drums who weaved fantasy into rock

Writing in an Instagram post this week (September 21), Lee said that while he was “locked down for over a year and a half” he spent lots of time with his family, but struggled to deal with Peart’s death. The 68-year-old singer also lost his mother in July.

“My friend and collaborator on the Big Beautiful Book of Bass, Daniel Richler, saw how I was struggling in the aftermath of Neil’s passing, and tried coaxing me out of my blues with some funny tales from his youth, daring me to share my own in return,” Lee said.

“I’d then send these improved and even illustrated stories to Daniel, who’d clean up some of the grammar and remove a lot of the swearing (I love to fucking swear), and presto!” he continued. “In a voice that sounded, well, just like me, a presentable, epic-length account of my life on and off the stage was taking shape: my childhood, my family, the story of my parents’ survival, my travels and all sorts of nonsense I’ve spent too much time obsessing over.

“And Daniel said, ‘I think you’re writing a book. An actual memoir, in fact.’ To which I replied, ‘Hmm… I guess I am.’”

The as-yet untitled book will be published by Harper Collins in autumn 2022. See the full post below.

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A post shared by Geddy Lee (@geddyimages)

In July, Alex Lifeson has confirmed that there will be no Rush reunion in the future.

Speaking on SiriusXM’s ‘Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk’ (per Blabbermouth), the guitarist said: “I know Rush fans are a unique bunch, and I love them. It was a really good two-way relationship. But I think, really, Rush ended in 2015. There’s no way Rush will ever exist again because Neil’s not here to be a part of it.

“And that’s not to say that we can’t do other things and we can’t do things that benefit our communities and all of that. I have lots of plans for that sort of thing that don’t necessarily include Geddy.”