Rush and the Canadians

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: JD wrote: Born and raised in the Great White North less than an hour from the origins of  the band I can say with absolute confidence they are known...and highly thought of. It's a generational thing, but they are probbaly the most popular Canadian rock band after The Guess Who. I don't see how The Guess Who could be considered more popular than Rush in Canada especially if we are going by album sales. Maybe among people who are a bit older but over all I seriously doubt it.

I believe that Gordon Lightfoot is more popular than both The Guess Who and Rush in Canada.

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: Paul, you forgot Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morissette, Gordon Lightfoot, Shania Twain and Celine Dion. ;)

I can't say I'm familiar with how kids get exposed to music these days, but if they've spent any time listening to Canadian rock radio, they're bound to hear some Rush (as well as some other Canadian bands you rarely hear outside our borders). I went into the car of a younger university classmate (~20) and she was playing Permanent Waves from her phone, if that's any indication of what the average Canadian band geek these days might listen to.

JD wrote: Born and raised in the Great White North less than an hour from the origins of  the band I can say with absolute confidence they are known...and highly thought of. It's a generational thing, but they are probbaly the most popular Canadian rock band after The Guess Who.

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - December 06 2020 at 15:25

Born and raised in the Great White North less than an hour from the origins of  the band I can say with absolute confidence they are known...and highly thought of. It's a generational thing, but they are probbaly the most popular Canadian rock band after The Guess Who.

From what I've read, they're about as popular in Canada as they are in the US, which is a lot. When you mention prog to people who only know a little about it, Rush usually comes up, pretty much all across the Americas.

After living in Canada for almost 10 years, I can easily say that Rush is quite popular here.  I'm an avid vinyl collector/trader/etc. and Rush is always an easy sell and you can fetch a lot of $$$ for excellent copies.  All of the reissues are selling quite well also according to my "new vinyl" sources.