During the Nike commercial "Short A Guy" which premiered back in July (and I'm sure you've seen a dozen times), a kid is first asked to join a game of pickup basketball, before being asked to join various other sports activities with associated athlete celebrities. When he joins the marathon he is given bib number 2112.- Adam Sandler first performed version 4 of his "Chanukah Song" live in concert in San Diego on November 18th, and this updated version includes Geddy Lee among notable Jewish celebrities. You can watch the performance here.
- Rush has been referenced on the animated series Family Guy twice in the past, and for their 248th episode (titled "Fighting Irish") which aired May 3, 2015, Peter tries to lure Liam Neeson into a fight by selling black jeans from a vendor cart. Among other taunts he yells "Don't be the only one at the Rush concert without a pair of black jeans!"
- During episode 3 of the new Marvel Netflix series, Jessica Jones ("AKA It's Called Whiskey") which aired November 20, 2015, the numbers for an address that are spoken aloud are "2112".
In 2011, Ernest Cline published his first novel, Ready Player One and it was a sensation among Rush fans (including this one). His followup novel, Armada, was published back in July, and like its predecessor, also includes a few Rush references. Taken from the story itself, the book even includes artwork for an 80's cassette "Raid The Arcade Mix" tape which features "Vital Signs", and a character who plays to a continuous loop of Moving Pictures:
"...He was bobbing his head in time to his favorite Terra Forma battle soundtrack song, 'Vital Signs' by Rush. Ray claimed that its unique time signature matched up perfectly with the alien Spider Fighter drones' erratic swarming patterns, making it easier for him to anticipate their movements and rate of attack. He also claimed that each of the other songs on Rush's Moving Pictures album was perfect for battling a different Sobrukai drone. Personally, I'd always assumed this was just an excuse he'd concocted for playing that same album on a continuous loop, day after day.
- The video game Guitar Hero Live was released October 20, 2015, and "Limelight" is one of the songs available in the game's TV mode. For more game details including videos click here.
- During the October 30th episode of Dr. Ken (season 1, episode 5), after being dosed with a pain-killer lollipop, Pat (Dave Foley) is listening to headphones, and yells to people in the office "Do you like RUSH?! This drum solo is sick!" You can view the episode here.
- Caustic Casanova's new video for "Show Some Shame", from their new album Breaks released September 25th, is a near complete recreation of Rush's "Time Stand Still" video, including the same spins, camera girl, industrial pillar, etc. The video begins with a Rush Chronicles style placard, and ends with the tribute "We thank Geddy, Alex and Neil for over 40 years of timeless music. Freeze this moment a little bit longer.
X-Men: Apocalypse is set for release on May 27, 2016, and as seen in the official trailer (at the 1:50 mark), Quicksilver (Evan Peters) wears a 'Moving Pictures' t-shirt.- Since my last update, there has been another Rush sighting on The Goldbergs. During the episode “Boy Barry” (season 3, episode 5, aired October 21st), the high school sax player is seen two more times throughout the episode (apparently on two different days) wearing the same Moving Pictures t-shirt (does he ever wash that thing?).
As covered previously, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson guest starred on NBC's Chicago Fire in an episode titled "2112" which aired Tuesday, November 17th. The storyline involves Rush performing a concert in Chicago and a few lucky Firehouse 51 fans snag free tickets to the show. You can view the episode here.- ESPN's pregame show on December 13th featured Cincinnati Bengals fan Jeff Wagner, who hand makes banners for every home game. Interviewed while wearing an R40 Live tour shirt, Jeff says he starts off creating his banners by "turning on Rush, greatest rock band in the history of the world." Check out his story here.
- In John McEnroe's biography Serious, published June 10, 2002, he talks of being a fan of Rush, and of getting a guitar lesson by Alex Lifeson.
- We've recently added a couple of songs to the Rush covers page:
- "The Spirit of Radio", performed by Rekha on Milky Ocean (iTunes), was released October 15, 2005. You can hear it Youtube.
- "Witch Hunt", performed by MolchMon on Expose, was released November 19th. The track is available on their bandcamp page.
- And finally, here are two fairly recent documentaries that have been released which feature Rush:
Rush are interviewed in the Rob Cohen documentary Being Canadian, released April 26, 2015. In the documentary, famous Canadians (and some non Canadians) are interviewed in an effort to explain Canada to the world. Check out the trailer here; Rush are at 1:36.
Geddy Lee is one of the many musicians interviewed in Jaco: A Documentary Film, which premiered November 22, 2014. The film tells the story of legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius (a short snippet of Geddy discussing fusion music from the documentary can be seen here).
Pop Culture References Update (and more) - December 2015
It's time for the next update of Rush References in Pop Culture. Since my last update two months ago, quite a few items have already come to light.
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