Alex Lifeson
Aleksandar Živojinović OC, ( born August 27, 1953) better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In 1963, Lifeson co-founded the band that would become Rush. Other co-founders are friend and drummer John Rutsey, bassist and lead vocalist Jeff Jones, and Jones's successor, current front man Geddy Lee a month later. Lifeson has been an integral member of the band ever since. For Rush, Lifeson plays electric and acoustic guitars as well as other stringed instruments such as mandola, mandolin, and bouzouki. He also performs backing vocals in live performances, and occasionally plays keyboards and bass pedal synthesizers. Like the other members of Rush, Lifeson performs real-time on-stage triggering of sampled instruments, concurrently with his guitar playing. The bulk of Lifeson's work in music has been with Rush, although Lifeson has contributed to a body of work outside of the band as well. Aside from music, Lifeson is part-owner of The Orbit Room, a bar and restaurant located in Toronto, Canada, a painter, and a licensed aircraft pilot. Along with his bandmates Geddy Lee and Neil Peart, Lifeson was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on May 9, 1996. The trio was the first rock band to be so honoured, as a group. He currently ranks 98th in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of 100 greatest guitarists of all time and third in the Guitar World Readers poll of 100 greatest guitarists.