Alex Lifeson

Aleksandar ivojinovi, OC , better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In 1968, Lifeson cofounded the band that would become Rush, with drummer John Rutsey and bassist and singer Jeff Jones. Jones was replaced by Geddy Lee a month later, and Rutsey was replaced by Neil Peart in 1974 the bands lineup has remained the same ever since.

Lifeson was born as Aleksandar ivojinovi in Fernie, British Columbia, to Serbian immigrants, Nenad and Melanija Zivojinovich , and raised in Toronto, Ontario. His stage name of Lifeson is a semiliteral translation of the name Zivojinovich, which means son of life in Serbian. His first exposure to formal music training came in the form of the viola, which he renounced for the guitar at the age of 12. His first guitar was a Christmas gift from his father, a sixstring Kent classical acoustic which was later upgraded to an electric Japanese model. During his adolescent years, he was influenced primarily by Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Steve Hackett and Allan Holdsworth he explained in 2011 that Claptons solos seemed a little easier and more approachable. I remember sitting at my record player and moving the needle back and forth to get the solo in Spoonful. But there was nothing I could do with Hendrix. In 1963 Lifeson met future Rush drummer John Ruts

Source: Wikipedia