Tonight, my favorite band, RUSH, will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. My reaction to this has cooled since I first heard the news last year and fist-pumped as if I were being inducted. Now my feeling is, “That’s nice.”

I’m glad that RUSH is being publicly honored. They’ve earned it; they deserve it. But in the larger scope of things, I know it makes no real difference. No one who hated RUSH before this will like them now; no one who liked their music before will like it any better once the Holy Triumvirate is ushered into the R&R HoF. And that’s okay. They’ve never really been about hype.

That’s why I love this band.

To me, RUSH has always been about the marriage of great music and great ideas. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart are all virtuoso musicians. I admire their integrity as artists and their professionalism in all aspects of their work.

Though I am a writer and not a musician, I have striven to emulate the devotion to craft and respect for my peers and fans that I have seen RUSH exhibit throughout the years. They started their career as outsiders and through hard work have become stars. I take inspiration from that, and I salute them today as they prepare to be welcomed into the R&R HoF.

Best of all, I know that when all the red-carpet hoopla is over, RUSH will simply say, “Thank you.” And then they will go back to work … just as they always have.