“Selfishly, I would love to do more of them because popping in for one song is my level of stamina.”
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty Images (Al Pereira, Michael Tullberg)
Just like a certain adventurer with some mean, mean pride, Rush are currently embarking on their fiftieth anniversary tour, a prog-rock pilgrimage that will take them around the world and back for the next year. Their first four shows in Los Angeles spotlighted a quartet of unique, ass-kicking setlists — congratulations to everyone on day two who got to hear 2112 in full; to quote the famous meme, I don’t really care if something good happened to you, it should have happened to me instead — but there was one special guest who was woven into every concert. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and new drummer Anika Nilles welcomed Aimee Mann to join the band for “Time Stand Still” each night, which is one of the most palatable, pop-leaning songs in Rush’s oeuvre. The song was originally released on 1987’s Hold Your Fire and features Mann providing backing vocals and gorgeously riffing with Lee’s high tenor. Until last week, she had never performed the song live with the band. Despite that, as Mann first first shared in one of her hand-drawn comics on social media, she was in “such a hole” mentally that she wasn’t sure she would be able to accept Lee’s invitation.
“I started to feel a little better and came out of the depression,” Mann says now, after having performed for nearly 70,000 people over those whirlwind days. She would even love to appear at future shows, as if she’s making up for lost time. “Selfishly,” Mann adds with a laugh, “I would love to do more of them, because popping in for one song is my level of stamina.”
I just adore this song. When you recorded it nearly 40 years ago, what do you recall about the experience of being welcomed into the Rush world? And, maybe most curiously, why did they deem it important to have a female singer?
Yeah, they didn’t do many collaborations at all. I vaguely knew who Rush were, but I didn’t really know their stuff. Obviously I’m more of a folk-rock person and not a prog-rock person. I have no idea to this day why they called me up. I really don’t. I mean, they have always listened to other music and kept up with other stuff that was happening at the time, so my guess is that I had a big music video that was being played a lot with my band Til’ Tuesday called “Voices Carry.” Maybe they saw that video and they were like, “This is the person who would sing this part.” It was a very, very high and ethereal part on the demo. I personally thought Geddy sounded like a little angel and should have sung it himself, but I was like, “If you want me to do it, I’ll do it.”
So yeah, they called me out of the blue. My band at the time was a post-new wave pop band and wasn’t really in the same genre. But it seemed like an interesting and fun opportunity, so why not do it? They flew me up to Toronto, and they couldn’t have been nicer — which I know is no surprise to you, but I didn’t know what they would be like. They were very funny. I was going through a phase where I was super into baseball, so they were very excited to talk about baseball. I actually got Geddy to sign my baseball mitt.
Now that’s one hell of a souvenir.
They were like, “Who are you carrying this mitt around?”
It was pretty easy, I have to say. Hearing my vocals back on the record, I was surprised I sang it so well. It was a really pleasant experience.
Had you ever attempted to perform the song live prior to this, either with the band or on your own tours?
With Rush, no. There was one time when me and Ted Leo played a show in Canada — I believe it was Toronto — and we attempted to play it. I had to really dumb down the parts. I don’t know how successful that was. But that was kind of like a lark for fun. That’s the only time since we recorded it that I approached the material. They had called me a few months after we recorded “Time Stands Still” to ask if I would be in the music video with them, which I did. We all went down to New York and shot this goofy video together. That was the last I heard from them since Geddy emailed me a couple months ago.
So he emailed you back in March about the opportunity, and you detailed in your comic that you couldn’t imagine doing it due to being in a “shitty place.” What made you reluctant?
I was super fucking depressed. I didn’t really feel very functional for a variety of reasons. The fucking world being on fire doesn’t help one’s psyche when there’s a lot of other stuff going on. I was just really depressed and in a bit of a self-loathing mode. I was like, Nobody wants to get onstage in front of a bunch of people. I just wanted to hide.
I felt really bad, because I couldn’t even bring myself to answer him. And then you’re like, This guy doesn’t want to hear my life story and how I feel. I’m a fucking crazy person who can’t handle my life. I started to come out of it and I was like, Okay, I think I can at least email him and explain why it’s taken so long. Geddy was super nice about it. He said, “Yeah, I get it. It’s a weird time.” He’s very sweet and understanding. It made me feel a lot better about the whole thing. Him and Alex rival “Weird Al” Yankovic at being the nicest people in show business. Actually, they might beat “Weird Al” Yankovic, because they’re nice, decent people, but they’re also Canadian.
What finally encouraged you to email Geddy back after a month?
Every day I would think, You got to answer this guy, man. You can’t ignore him. He was nice enough to email and ask you, so you can’t just leave this hanging. I also reminded myself of how kind they both were. I knew they would make it really easy for me, because they’re decent people, and it felt like they would go out of their way to make sure I felt comfortable.
Was his suggestion from the start for you to appear at every Los Angeles show?
He asked me to do one show. Honestly, if he had asked me to do four, I would’ve said no. It sounds like too much. The Kia Forum is fucking enormous. It’s not like I’ve been onstage at arenas or stadiums before, so that’s why I was like, I’m just not built for that level. This is not for somebody like me. I just don’t think I could’ve handled it. But their fans were so great, and I felt really supported.
Listen, that’s not always the case. You can talk yourself down and say, I’m going to go out there, and they’re going to be boo and scream ‘We wanted to see Rush! We don’t care about you! But that first show was the opposite experience. It was just magical. You’re part of a magical event where this incredible band is getting back together. They’re honoring their drummer while honoring their new drummer, which is so exciting. Everybody’s on the same page, and it’s a page of real top-down kindness.
So after that, somebody in their organization was like, “You’re coming for all of them, right?” And I said, “Well, they didn’t ask me.” And they responded, “Oh my God, of course they want you to come again.” I wanted to repeat this experience because it was so fantastic. Rush are powerhouses. I’m exhausted after doing one song, and they’re going on and on.
Did you get a little rehearsal time with them before the first show?
Rush rehearsed at the Forum for a week. I listened to “Time Stand Still” a bunch of times and I thought to myself, I totally forgot that this song is way more complicated than I thought. No surprise, we’re talking about Rush, but the arrangement is a lot more complicated than the standard folk rock arrangements I’m used to. I had to draw out a schematic of when I say what, and counted it all out. I came to one of their rehearsals and we went over the song a couple of times. In my own rehearsals, I’m so sick of my own songs. I don’t want to play them more than once. So I felt bad when they suggested, “Do you mind doing it a couple of times?”
Do you imagine popping up in other cities in the coming months to keep performing this, just for kicks?
I’m going to try to. They’re doing some filming in Cleveland, so I’m probably going to the Cleveland shows. They’re going to be on tour for, what, a full year? I would love to do more. I just got a million fucking things I’m doing, so I don’t know how practical it is, but if I have the time, I’m up for it.
A theme of “Time Stand Still,” to highlight one lyric, is about how experience and innocence can quickly slip away. How do you view the song now in 2026?
I was 26 years old when I recorded this. And when you’re 26, you’re like, Oh, this is totally a metaphysical rumination on the nature of time. That’s interesting. But when you’re in your sixties, it’s like, The moment is now, man. This is it. This is happening. You have to be present. I think that’s why being onstage for that moment was so moving.
It was also very moving to me because when I recorded with them and spent some time with them doing the music video. I really liked those guys. Then they’re on tour, I’m on tour, and they live in Toronto. We don’t live in the same place, and I never saw them again. It was always a little heartbreaking, to be honest. To reconnect with them like this is like, having time folded onto itself, it was really lovely.
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