Geddy Lee Weinrib, OC (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953), known professionally as Geddy Lee, is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined what would become Rush in September 1968, at the request of his childhood friend Alex Lifeson, replacing original bassist and frontman Jeff Jones. Lee\'s first solo effort, My Favourite Headache, was released in 2000.\n', '

An award-winning musician, Lee\'s style, technique, and skill on the bass guitar have inspired many rock musicians such as Cliff Burton of Metallica, Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, John Myung of Dream Theater, Les Claypool of Primus, and Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine & Audioslave. Along with his Rush bandmates – guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart – Lee 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. In 2013, the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame after 14 years of eligibility; they were nominated overwhelmingly in the Hall\'s first selection via fan ballot. Lee is ranked 13th by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Vocalists of All Time.\n', '

Lee was born on July 29, 1953 in Willowdale, (North York) Toronto, Ontario, to Morris and Mary Weinrib (née Manya Rubenstein). His parents were Jewish Holocaust survivors from Poland who had survived the ghetto in their hometown Starachowice, followed by their imprisonments at Dachau and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, during the Holocaust and World War II. They were about 13 years old when they were initially imprisoned at Auschwitz concentration camp, close to the same age as Anne Frank at that time. "It was kind of surreal pre-teen shit," says Lee, describing how his father bribed guards to bring his mother shoes. After a period, his mother was transferred to Bergen-Belsen and his father to Dachau. When the war ended four years later and the Allies liberated the camps, his father set out in search of his mother and found her at a displaced persons camp. They married there and eventually emigrated to Canada.\n', '

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