"Limelight" is a song by Canadian

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band Rush. It first appeared on the 1981 album '' Moving Pictures''. The song's lyrics were written by

Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart ( ; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian and American musician, known as the drummer, percussionist, and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush (band), Rush. He was known to fans by the nickname "the Profe ...

with music written by

Geddy Lee Geddy Lee Weinrib (; born Gary Lee Weinrib, July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Rock music, rock band Rush (band), Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968 at the request o ...

and

Alex Lifeson Aleksandar Živojinović (born 27 August 1953), known professionally as Alex Lifeson (), is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist for the rock band Rush. In 1968, he co-founded a band (which later became Rush) with drummer John Rut ...

. "Limelight" expresses Peart's discomfort with Rush's success and the resulting attention from the public. The song paraphrases the opening lines of the "

All the world's a stage "All the world's a stage" is the phrase that begins a monologue from William Shakespeare's pastoral comedy ''As You Like It'', spoken by the melancholy Jaques (As You Like It), Jaques in Act II Scene VII Line 139. The speech compares the world ...

" speech from

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

''. The band had previously used the phrase for its 1976 live album. The lyrics also refer to "the camera eye", the title of the song that follows on the ''Moving Pictures'' album. Released as the lead single from the album in February 1981, it charted at on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Top Tracks Classic Vinyl is a Sirius XM Radio channel focusing on classic rock music mostly from the late-1960s to the mid-1970s, with the channel's name meant to indicate that it consists of music that first appeared on vinyl records. This encompasses mus ...

chart and on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and remains one of Rush's most popular songs commercially. "Limelight" was one of five Rush songs inducted into the

Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame () is a Canadian non-profit organization, founded in 1998 by Frank Davies, that inducts Canadians into their ''Hall of Fame'' within three different categories: songwriters, songs, and those others who have m ...

on March 28, 2010. It was listed at No. 435 on ''Rolling Stone''s "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2021. Lifeson's guitar solo in "Limelight" was also listed as ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

''s 26th greatest guitar solo of all time.

Background

In "Limelight", lyricist Neil Peart comments on the band's commercial success and the fame and its demands that come with rock star status. According to guitarist

, the song is about "being under the microscopic scrutiny and the need for privacy—trying to separate the two and not always being successful at it". Bassist

describes the motivation for "Limelight" in a 1988 interview: In a 2007 interview,

gives his take on "Limelight": ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that it has "buzzsaw guitar and vocal dynamics" that should appeal to pop radio.

Recording and live performance

Lifeson's guitar solo was performed on what he called a "Hentor Sportscaster", a modified

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

equipped with a

Floyd Rose The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, or simply Floyd Rose, is a type of locking Vibrato systems for guitar, vibrato arm for a guitar. Floyd D. Rose invented the locking vibrato in 1976, the first of its kind, and it is now manufactured by a company ...

vibrato arm. Critics frequently point out Lifeson's use of vibrato in the solo, with Max Mobley writing that it "is dripping with Floyd Rose whammy". "Limelight" has been described as Lifeson's "signature song", and critics cite the influence of

Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz and rock music, rock guitarist, violinist and composer. He contributed to numerous bands, including Soft Machine, U.K. (band), U.K., The Tony Williams Lifetime, Pierre Moerl ...

. Lifeson himself calls it his favourite solo. The song was a staple of Rush's live performances, having been played on every tour since its release, up until the Grace Under Pressure Tour, when it was removed. It was then brought back for the following two tours, and was then removed again for the

Presto Tour Presto may refer to: Computing * Presto (browser engine), an engine previously used in the Opera web browser * Presto (operating system), a Linux-based OS by Xandros * Presto (SQL query engine), a distributed query engine * Presto (animation so ...

. It was then put back in all further tour setlists, until the

R40 Live Tour The R40 Live Tour was the final concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush (band), Rush that commemorated the 40th anniversary of drummer Neil Peart joining the band in July 1974. The title hearkens back to Rush's 2004 R30: 30th Anniversary Tour t ...

Personnel

Rush

- bass, vocals, synthesizers *

- electric and acoustic guitars *

- drums, percussion

Additional personnel

*Terry Brown: uncredited backing vocals

Production

* Rush * Terry Brown

In popular culture

*The song was featured in the films '' Sonny'', ''

Used Cars ''Used Cars'' is a 1980 American satirical black comedy film co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis. The story follows Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell), a devious salesman, working for affable, but monumentally unsuccessful used-car dealer Luke ...

'', '' That's My Boy'', ''

I Love You, Man ''I Love You, Man'' is a 2009 American bromantic comedy film written and directed by John Hamburg, based on a script by Larry Levin. The film stars Paul Rudd as a friendless man looking for a best man for his upcoming wedding. However, his ...

'', and '' Fanboys''. The latter two films also feature the song "

Tom Sawyer Thomas "Tom" Sawyer () is the title character of the Mark Twain novel '' The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), '' Tom Sawyer Abroad'' (1894), and '' Tom Sawy ...

". *Both a cover and the original version of the song are available as downloadable tracks for the music video game series ''

Rock Band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

'', the latter being bundled with the rest of the ''Moving Pictures'' album. It is also playable in '' Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock'' and ''

Guitar Hero Live ''Guitar Hero Live'' is a 2015 rhythm game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the seventh main instalment and the twelfth overall instalment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released for PlayStation 3, ...

''. *Upon the band's entrance into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

, a slightly edited version of the song was used in the intro for

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

's ''

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' on April 20, 2013. *In an episode of the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

sitcom '' Playing House'' ("Drumline", Season 1, Episode 5), "Limelight" plays over the last scene.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1981 singles Rush (band) songs Music videos directed by Bruce Gowers Songs written by Alex Lifeson Songs written by Geddy Lee Songs written by Neil Peart Song recordings produced by Terry Brown (record producer) 1980 songs Mercury Records singles