Rush in popular culture

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For over 20 years Rush references and tributes have been cited in pop culture^[1]:

Gregory's Girl, 1981. Gregory, the lead character played by John Gordon Sinclair, in this Scottish coming-of-age comedy, is a keen drummer and has a poster of the band, featuring Neil, on his bedroom wall, behind his drum kit.
A Nightmare on Elm Street, Nov. 1984. In the bedroom of one of the teenage characters (played by Johnny Depp), a Grace Under Pressure album cover poster can be seen on the wall above his bed.
The song "Grade 9" by The Barenaked Ladies contains at least two Rush references: the famous drum break from "Tom Sawyer" (after the echoed 'Well this is me!') and the opening guitar riff from "Spirit Of Radio" (after the 'Charlie Brown Theme'). These were likely included by singer/guitarist Ed Robertson, who is a big Rush fan. He has also played "Closer To The Heart" with Rush for the Canadian Tsunami Relief Telethon (January 2005) along with Bubbles from the Trailer Park Boys.
Several episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which aired between 1989-1999, contained references to the band, as well as individual members.
The music video for "Stick It Out" from Counterparts was featured in an episode of MTV's Beavis and Butthead on Dec. 19, 1994.
The alternative band Pavement reference Rush vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee in their song "Stereo" (from Brighten the Corners, 1997): "What about the voice of Geddy Lee / How did it get so high? / I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy? / (I know him and he does!) / And you’re my fact-checkin’ cuz"
The music of "Tom Sawyer" was used in the movies The Waterboy and Small Soldiers, 1998.
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson recorded "O Canada" for the soundtrack of the 1999 movie South Park: Bigger, Louder, & Uncut. Rush have also been referenced in at least two episodes of South Park.
Matt Stone's enthusiatic porn photographer character in the movie Orgazmo asks the assembled crew to say "Geddy Lee" rather than "Cheese" when taking a photo. When asked who Geddy Lee is, Stone's character is shocked and says "Best bass player in the world, ever!"
Freaks and Geeks, the television series, which aired for a short period between 1999-2000 contained an abundance of Rush references and music samples. The Freaks And Geeks: Original Soundtrack And Score includes the song "The Spirit of Radio" from Permanent Waves.
A measure of the song Tom Sawyer was used for a Nissan Maxima television commercial in the Fall of 2000.
Verbal Rush references have been made several times in That 70's Show, the television series, 1998-2006.
Futurama has included two Rush references, one in episode #47 "Anthology of Interest II" and another in #70 "Obsoletely Fabulous".
Gilmore Girls, the television series, aired May 2002. In the episode "Help Wanted", the following quote is uttered: ""I have found my calling...my future, my path, my destiny...I'm gonna be a drummer...I am Keith Moon, I am Neil Peart (pronounced "Pert"), I am Rick Allen, with or without the arm, because I am Rock And Roll baby!"
In a deleted scene featured in the DVD of the Paul Thomas Anderson film Magnolia, Tom Cruise's character has a full-wall poster of Rush's Chronicles compilation album in the living room of his apartment.
The song "One Little Victory" from Vapor Trails was used as theme music for the video game Need for Speed - Hot Pursuit 2, July 2002.
Alex Lifeson appeared and played himself in an episode of Trailer Park Boys titled "Closer To The Heart" which was part of season 3, May 2003.
Comedy Central's Reno 911!, the television series, contains a Rush reference in one episode (aired Sep. 2003) where the character Lt. Dangle tells a class full of high school students "I can play some Rush" at the end of a presentation.
The movie School of Rock, released Oct. 2003 contains a Neil Peart reference where the pseudo music teacher played by Jack Black hands the album 2112 to a pupil who plays the drums and says "Rush. 2112. Neil Peart. One of the great drummers of all time. Study up." However, Jack Black did mis-pronounce Peart's name as "Pairt"
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the animated television series, part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim lineup, which along with Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law and Squidbillies have all referenced Rush.
Supernatural, the television series. Two episodes "Wendingo" (#2, aired Sep. 2005) - "Fly By Night" was heard during the very last 30 seconds of the episode, and "Phantom Traveler" (#4, aired Oct. 2005) - "Working Man" is heard playing.
The Simpsons contains a Rush reference in the form of Geddy Lee's and The Mackenzie Brothers song "Take Off (Great White North)".
The bass solo in "Driven" can be heard briefly in an episode of Pimp My Ride.
When Conan O'Brien was doing a week of shows in Canada, he made an all Rush mix tape for the occasion.
The first season theme song for Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda was composed by Alex Lifeson.
The band Nerf Herder references rush on their songs "Golf Shirt" and "High School".
Rush was the subject of a joke during the 'The Word' segment on the 2 Oct. 2006 episode of The Colbert Report. Colbert suggests that scientists see the universe as "an eleven dimension multiverse made up of tiny vibrating strings", to which the blurb that is 'the word' replies "Basically, a Rush concert."
During Comedy Central’s Roast of William Shatner, comedian Patton Oswalt made a joke about Carrie Fisher being in a Vicodin-eating contest with Chewbacca, which he immediately followed with, “I feel very good about that joke, because the message board I tried it out on gave me an ‘LMFAOWIHABFEFAAMMIMDYAMIRDMRFBNA’, which, as Brian Posehn will tell you, means ‘Laughing my figurative ass off while I have a Boba Fett action figure in my real ass, and my mom yells at me to turn down my Rush: Fly By Night album.” (Note: Patton’s supposed abbreviation does not match what is actually said).
Neal Peart plays himself in the new Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie slated for release in February of 2007.

[edit] Trivia

Some interesting song and album trivia^[2]:

The song title "By-Tor and the Snowdog" from Fly By Night was inspired by names given by Rush's road manager to two dogs, a German Shepherd Dog and a small white dog, at a party in the 70's. The German Shepherd was notorious for biting guests which earned him the nickname "By-Tor". The name "Snowdog" seemed an apt title for a white snow colored dog.
The song "Lakeside Park" from the album Caress of Steel is an actual location in St. Catharines, on Lake Ontario. Another location referenced on the same album is Willowdale, the suburb of Toronto where the original members grew up and formed the band, in the spoken introduction to the multi-part song "The Necromancer".
The instrumental track "Overture", the opening section of 2112, contains parts of Tchaikovsky's famous orchestral piece the 1812 Overture.
"Xanadu" from A Farewell to Kings was inspired by the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
The song "Cygnus X-1", the sci-fi prequel to Hemispheres, takes its name from a candidate black hole located within the constellation of Cygnus, also known as "The Swan".
The instrumental "La Villa Strangiato" is roughly translated to mean "Weird City", and is based upon a series of nightmares that Alex Lifeson had experienced around the time of its recording.
In Brazil, "Tom Sawyer" was used as the theme music for the television series MacGyver.
"Tom Sawyer" was also used as entrance music by professional wrestler Kerry Von Erich
"YYZ" from the album Moving Pictures is the IATA airport code for Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport. The distinctive opening riff, which alternates between two notes, is morse code for "YYZ".
The lyrics to "Red Barchetta" were inspired by the short story "A Nice Morning Drive" by Richard S. Foster, 1973.
Sound from the film Superman: The Movie, starring Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder and Gene Hackman, was sampled during the beginning of the song "The Camera Eye" to capture the hustle and bustle of city life.
The album cover of Rush's 1981 live album Exit...Stage Left contains pictorial references for every Rush album up to that point. A similar motif can be found on the inner sleeve for their 1987 album Hold Your Fire.
Contrary to popular belief, even though Alex Lifeson is shown mouthing the word "Subdivisions" in the song's music video, the phrase found in the studio version was actually uttered by a famous Toronto weatherman who possessed a distinctive voice. It is a common misconception that Neil Peart was responsible for saying it.
"Red Sector A", an ode to holocaust survivors from Grace Under Pressure, was actually the name of the site where the band members watched the launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Actual recorded transmission samples were used during the coda in the song "Countdown" from Signals.
Several of the tribal drum patterns found in the song "Scars" from the album Presto have been incorporated, in various forms, into Neil Peart's live drum solos.
The poem "There Is a Lake Between Sun & Moon" by Pye Dubois, 1992 inspired the lyrics of the song "Between Sun and Moon" from Counterparts. Pye Dubois also co-wrote the lyrics to "Test for Echo", "Tom Sawyer", and "Force Ten".
The instrumental intro to the song "Mystic Rhythms" from the album Power Windows was used as the theme music for the NBC news program, 1986.
The official theme song for SummerSlam 2004 was "Summertime Blues".