Rush Honored in Canada

Congrats are in order for Canada's prog rock institution and beloved rockers Rush. The band nabbed the Governor's General Performing Arts Award in their home country this past weekend (May 5.)

Vocalist/bassist/keyboardist Geddy Lee and co. were the guests of honor at the event, which was held at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Saturday. Each member of the band, rounded out by drummer Neil Peart and guitarist Alex Lifeson, was granted a commemorative medal and a $25,000 prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. Not too shabby, right? It's quite refreshing to see an arts organization in Canada pay tribute to the long-lasting legacy of Rush.

"Being a Canadian and seeing how our country treats artists, I think this is a great program to inspire young artists and I'm very proud to be a part of it," Lee said in an acceptance speech at the fete. "I'm so proud of Canada for doing such a thing. To value artists and to celebrate art is a real pat on the back for artists."

South Park creator Matt Stone, who worshipped Rush while growing up, was on hand to pay tribute to the group in a speech, fondly recalling, "I remember buying their cassettes, tearing home on my BMX, running inside and throwing them into my Walkman, and sitting down to my drum set and just destroying my mom's afternoon. Rush was definitely the first band I ever loved."

Clockwork Angels, the Rush's 20th studio album, will be released on June 12. It will be the trio's first new collection of original material in over five years and their first studio release via Anthem/Roadrunner records.

Watch Rush's "Headlong Flight" Lyric Video

Rush tour dates:

Sep-7 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Arena

Sep-9 Washington, DC Jiffy Lube Live Amphitheater

Sep-11 Pittsburgh, PA CONSOL Energy Center

Sep-13 Indianapolis, IN Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Sep-15 Chicago, IL United Center

Sep-18 Detroit, MI Palace of Auburn Hills

Sep-20 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena

Sep-22 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center

Sep-24 Minneapolis, MN Target Center

Sep-26 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre

Sep-28 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre

Sep-30 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place

Oct-10 Bridgeport, CT Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard

Oct-12 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center

Oct-14 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre

Oct-18 Montreal, QC Bell Centre

Oct-20 Newark, NJ Prudential Center

Oct-22 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center

Oct-24 Boston, MA TD Garden

Oct-26 Buffalo, NY First Niagara Center

Oct-28 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena

Oct-30 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena

*Nov-1 Atlanta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

Nov-3 Tampa, FL 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre

Nov-13 Seattle, WA KeyArena

Nov-15 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion

Nov-17 Anaheim, CA Honda Center

Nov-19 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheatre

Nov-23 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena

Nov-25 Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center

Nov-28 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center

Nov-30 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center

Dec-2 Houston, TX Toyota Center