1981 Rock Hit Named One of the Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time by Rolling Stone — And It Still Rocks

Rush is widely considered “the world’s biggest cult band,” a contradiction that somehow makes complete sense. The Canadian prog rockers cultivated one of music’s most fervent fanbases despite achieving just one top 40 hit in the U.S. and never becoming fixtures on MTV.

But Rush began streamlining their sound in the ‘80s, building some commercial momentum along the way. Their first album of the decade, 1980’s Permanent Waves, hit No. 4 in on the Billboard 200, the band’s highest charting position to that point in the U.S.

Neil Peart, Rush’s drummer and lyricist, was growing uncomfortable with the growing success and the public attention that came with it. He channeled those feelings into “Limelight,” the first single from 1981’s Moving Pictures.

“’Limelight’ was probably more of Neil’s song than a lot of the songs on that album,” Geddy Lee, Rush’s lead singer and bassist, told Redbeard. The introverted Peart, Lee said, was having a difficult time dealing with autograph seekers and his sudden loss of privacy.

Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson took Peart’s feelings into account when writing his part, especially the haunting solo that counters the anthemic riffs he played during the song’s opening.

“There’s something very sad and lonely about it,” Lifeson told Guitar World in 2007. “It exists in its own little world. And I think, in its own way, it reflects the nature of the song’s lyrics – feeling isolated amidst chaos and adulation.”

“Limelight” brought Lifeson more adulation. Guitar World ranked it the 26^th-greatest guitar solo of all time, while Rolling Stone slotted it at No. 37.

In an ironic twist, “Limelight” brought Rush more of the attention Peart tried to avoid. Moving Pictures peaked at No. 3 and sold four million copies, making it the band’s biggest-selling U.S. album to date.

Peart passed away in January of 2020. After years away from the limelight, Lee and Lifeson hit the road again in 2026. Joined by German drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold, they kicked off their Fifty Something Tour on June 7.

The tour is expected to run into April 2027, giving Lifeson more chances to play the “Limelight” solo, which he considers his favorite.

 “The solo reflects the emotional character of the song,” Lifeson said during guitarist Chris Shiflett’s podcast, Shred With Shifty. “The disconnected feeling of living a life that’s on a stage and the loneliness that comes with it.”