| Limelight | |
| Cover: | Limelight Single.jpg |
| Alt: | The record's face is a series of skyscrapers |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Rush |
| Album: | Moving Pictures |
| B-Side: | YYZ |
| Recorded: | OctoberNovember 1980 |
| Studio: | Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec |
| Genre: | Arena rock |
| Label: | Mercury |
| Prev Title: | Entre Nous |
| Prev Year: | 1980 |
| Next Title: | Vital Signs |
| Next Year: | 1981 |
"Limelight" is a song by Canadian progressive rock band Rush. It first appeared on the 1981 album Moving Pictures. The song's lyrics were written by Neil Peart with music written by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. "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" speech from William Shakespeare's play As You Like It. 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 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 on March 28, 2010.[1] It was listed at No. 435 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2021.[2]
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 Alex Lifeson, 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".[3] Bassist Geddy Lee describes the motivation for "Limelight" in a 1988 interview:
In a 2007 interview, Alex Lifeson gives his take on "Limelight":
Record World said that it has "buzzsaw guitar and vocal dynamics" that should appeal to pop radio.[4]
Lifeson's guitar solo was performed on what he called a "Hentor Sportscaster", a modified Fender Stratocaster equipped with a Floyd Rose vibrato arm. Critics frequently point out Lifeson's use of vibrato in the solo,[5] with Max Mobley writing that it "is dripping with Floyd Rose whammy". "Limelight" has been described as Lifeson's "signature song",[6] and critics cite the influence of Allan Holdsworth.[7] Lifeson himself calls it his favourite solo.[8]
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. It was then put back in all further tour setlists, until the R40 Live Tour.[9] [10]