Geddy Lee, shown at TIFF on Sept. 16, said on Instagram that he believes Brad Bradford has ‘fresh ideas’ for the future of Toronto.Mark Blinch/Reuters
Canadian rockstar Geddy Lee has endorsed candidate Brad Bradford for Toronto mayor. The frontman for the legendary band Rush posted his approval for the centre-right municipal politician on Instagram.
“I was born in Toronto and have built a life with my family here,” Lee wrote in his post on Monday. “It was always a place I’ve been proud to call home. But it’s changing, and not for the better. I’m not one to make public statements about politicians, but I truly fear for the future of Toronto with its current leadership, and believe that Brad has energy, fresh ideas and really cares about ALL of this city’s communities.”
Holding his Norwich terrier Dottie Wasserman, the Working Man singer posed with Bradford, who lost to Olivia Chow in 2023, coming in eighth place. He is thought to be Chow’s strongest challenger in the municipal election set for Oct. 26.
Lee, the 73-year-old son of Jewish Holocaust survivors from Poland, grew up in the suburban Willowdale area of Toronto. He once had a home in the Upper Beaches neighbourhood, which Bradford has represented on Toronto City Council since 2018.
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Rush is currently on a wildly successful international tour after being inactive since 2015. Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson, along with two touring musicians, sold out four concerts at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena in August.
Though Rush is not known to be a political band, the lyrics penned by the late drummer Neil Peart were influenced by Russian-born American author and philosopher Ayn Rand. Singer-bassist Lee wrote in his 2023 memoir My Effin’ Life that it was in Rand’s The Fountainhead that he found “moral reinforcement” in the band’s early struggles with its management and record label.
“In the novel her protagonist Howard Roark stands up defiantly for the rights of the individual, and passionately against the concept of artistic compromise,” Lee wrote in his book.
Lee has endorsed Bradford at a time when Canadian musicians are increasingly flexing their political muscles. Two days before Canada Day, B.C.-based Bryan Adams released the single 51st State, a rocking protest song directed at U.S. President Donald Trump: “So let me give you some advice, mister. You might have too much on your plate. Go and load us up with tariffs, but we’ll never be the 51st state.”
In April, 2025, Toronto-born Neil Young, who has a summer residence in Ontario, implored Prime Minister Mark Carney to fight what he described as a threat to Canada’s “very existence” from the United States.
“They want our resources, they want our land, they want our fisheries, they want our water, they want our Arctic, maybe they want our souls,” the Rockin’ in the Free World musician wrote in an open letter on his news site, NYA Times-Contrarian.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to state that Neil Young endorsed Mark Carney in April, 2025, not 2026 as previously published.