"His playing is inspirational and speaks to my soul like no other guitarist" – Alex Lifeson guests with Tool in Toronto

Alex Lifeson
(Image credit: Epiphone)

Tool fan Alex Lifeson needed no encouragement when the band invited him to guest with them in his home city of Toronto. He's such a massive fan of Tool's Adam Jones he even gifted him one of his piezo-loaded signature Epiphone Les Paul Axcess guitars in Ruby.

"What an honour and delight it was playing with one of my favourite bands last night," said Lifeson on Instagram. I've loved Tool since the first time I listened to them. They are such a great band and I am lucky to call them friends.

Lifeson certainly didn't take the easy route, joining the band on the rhythmically challenging Jambi from their 10,000 Days album. Still, this is the guitarist from Rush after all! Who might even be returning to Rush duty with Geddy Lee in the future. The band and Lifeson then instersped the song with a burst of Rush's A Passage To Bangkok. Prog on! 

"One of the many highs of the evening was gifting my Epiphone Les Paul to Adam Jones," Lifeson reflected on Instagram, sharing a pic of the guitar handover. His playing is inspirational and speaks to my soul like no other guitarist. Respecto, brother." 

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar in the UK. When I'm not rejigging pedalboards I'm usually thinking about rejigging pedalboards.