'Fly by Night': Rush's First Single to Chart in the US Isn't Loved by Geddy Lee
Is there a rock band more synonymous with Canada than Rush? (Well, besides The Tragically Hip.) Formed in Toronto in 1968, the progressive rock group boasted musicians at the height of their craft: Vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and the late drummer Neil Peart (although the band endured a few lineup changes before settling on this iconic trio).
Outlets like Forbesand Paradeconsider Rush one of the greatest rock bands of all time, and the various accolades under their belt prove that. They've been nominated for seven Grammys throughout their nearly six-decade tenure, and have won 10 Juno Awards. In 1994, the group was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, followed by an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.
The band released their self-titled debut on March 18, 1974. Their second studio album, Fly by Night, hit music stores on Feb. 14, 1975, and was the first album in the band's musical catalog to incorporate the progressive rock elements that shaped their sound. The record's titular single, "Fly by Night,' was released on April 23, 1975, and it marked another first for Rush: the band released the song in additional markets beyond the US and Canada.
Peart penned the lyrics about his first trip away from home, when he left small-town Canada in 1971 to fly to the UK. There's also a prologue written by Peart that doesn't appear in the final version of the song. Lee composed the music.
Then, in December 1976, Rush debuted "Fly by Night" again as a single, this time releasing it as a live medley with "In the Mood," the second single from their first album. It was unveiled to promote the band's live record, All the World's a Stage, which was released by Mercury Records on Sept. 29, 1976. The band achieved yet another first—it was the first single to appear on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 88.
Rush hasn't performed "Fly by Night" since 1978. Lifeson wanted to reincorporate the track into the band's setlist for its R40 tour in 2015; however, as he told Rolling Stone, he thought that "Geddy felt that he'd really have a problem singing it."
Lee opened up about the track in his 2023 memoir, My Effin' Life, and it's abundantly clear that it's not his favorite Rush song. "It sounds kinda dinky to me! ... To my taste, there was something too sugary, too corny about the chorus...it's never wrapped its arms around me."