Brian Hiatt
Contact Brian Hiatt on X View all posts by Brian Hiatt October 10, 2026 Add us as a Google Preferred Source
Add us as a Google Preferred Source 
Geddy Lee recently revealed to Rolling Stone that he almost named his daughter after Steely Dan's 'Aja' Griffin Lotz; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Rush and Steely Dan have nothing and everything in common. They each specialize in technically daunting recordings that other musicians envy; they’ve both recorded great songs about the emptiness of the suburbs (“Subdivisions” and “Deacon Blues”). Their lyrics are anomalously cerebral for rock, usually in very different ways, though Donald Fagen and Walter Becker‘s line about the chess piece in “Dirty Work” (“like a castle in its corner in a medieval game”) could easily be Neil Peart’s. Rush’s musical complexity leaned towards proggy adventures with time signatures and song structure, while Steely Dan were more inclined to wedge wild stacks of jazz chords into pop songs. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart, of course, played every note on their albums, whereas Becker and Fagen eventually prided themselves on seeking out world-class session musicians.
And as it turns out, Geddy Lee is “a huge fan of Steely Dan,” the frontman and bassist tells Rolling Stone in a newly released interview from our recent cover-story sessions. “Almost named my daughter Aja after that record. I love that record so much. I wore it out.”
Do Rush like Steely Dan? I found out the answer. New interview video from my cover-story sessions with Geddy, Alex, and Anika just posted. pic.twitter.com/5Dpth0Ni9Y
— Brian Hiatt (@hiattb) October 7, 2026
New touring drummer Anika Nilles is a major fan of the late drummer Jeff Porcaro, who played on three Steely Dan albums, including Katy Lied, while guitarist Lifeson is fond of another key collaborator, guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. “Has there been anybody more versatile than Skunk?” Lifeson says. “So many styles in his playing, and intelligence.”
Lee points to one of the Dan’s signature achievements. “What amazed me about Steely Dan was how commercial they were,” he says. “At the same time, just fucking really complex and interesting, you know? They were the exception of the rule that proves the rule, whatever that expression is. They were able to be challenging, to think like jazz artists, and yet produce music that was easily consumed. That’s a kind of amazing feat.” Rush also distilled their epic tendencies into tighter songs starting in the Eighties, though Lee jokes it wasn’t that much of a change: “from 14 minutes to seven.”
