Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush sat down with Brazilian TV show Fantástico to talk about the tour that, not too long ago, neither of them was sure would ever happen — and to explain one of the most-discussed decisions they made in putting it together: why the drummer behind the kit isn’t a rock household name.
The “Fifty Something” tour, Rush‘s first run of official shows under the band’s name in eleven years, will feature German drummer Anika Nilles — best known for her work in jazz, fusion, and prog circles, and for touring with Jeff Beck in 2022. The choice raised eyebrows in some corners of the fanbase, where names like Dream Theater‘s Mike Portnoy had been floated as the kind of technically elite, Neil Peart-adjacent pick that might make sense. Lee addressed it head-on.
“Well, there are a few reasons for that,” he said (via Blabbermouth). “First of all, I think Alex and I wanted to stay away from the obvious comparisons. When you are working with a drummer from this famous band or that famous band, it’s just too easy to make comments. You know what the internet’s like, you know what fans can be like — arguments. So I think what appealed to us about Anika, first of all, we were so thrilled to see how well she plays and her technical ability. And it never really occurred to us that she came from a different genre of music. So I think we wanted somebody fresh, someone who had a story, someone whose story would be welcomed by our fans. And I think Anika fits that bill completely.”
As for whether the decision to go outside the rock world was a conscious one, Lifeson explained that the question never really came up — because the tour itself almost didn’t happen. “We never really talked about that, because that was never really a concern or an issue,” he said. “As far as I was concerned personally, I went back and forth on the idea of going back on the road. I did other projects, and I kept pretty busy. And I just didn’t know if I wanted to go through the whole thing of touring and being on the road.
“But Geddy and I got together and we started playing some stuff, and invariably we started playing some Rush songs, and we really had fun and we realized how much we love playing. I mean, we’re very good friends — everybody knows that; we’ve been friends for a long time — but we were just having so much fun playing the songs, and after not having played them for a while, they were challenging to play. So that made it even more fun. And then we started talking about, what about the idea of maybe sharing this? And the more we talked about it, the more interesting that idea sounded and it kind of took on a life of its own. And now here we are with a full-fledged tour.”
Lee offered a characteristically dry footnote to explain why the drummer conversation didn’t start sooner: “Well, the short answer, which Alex didn’t really answer, the reason we never discussed what style of drummer we want was that we had no plans to come back on the road. And when suddenly the story that he just told happened, we said, ‘Okay, now we need a drummer. Do you know any?’”
The question of how Rush planned to handle the absence of Neil Peart — who died in January 2020 at 67 after a three-year battle with glioblastoma — was one the band approached with care. Lee outlined what they settled on.
“Well, we’ve been talking about certain songs that we feel really, really give us the vision of Neil,” he said. “And we’ll pick those songs and each set, of the two sets, so twice a night we will pick a song to play sort of for him, and we’ll present a visual tribute behind us to Neil, whether it be to his lyrics or just to his playing or whatever. Take a moment, play these songs with him in mind so the whole audience and we can remember him.”
What began as 22 dates sold out immediately. The 2026 leg — covering Canada, the US and Mexico — now totals 58 shows across 24 cities, with over half a million tickets already sold. In February, Rush announced the addition of South American and European dates for early 2027, marking the band’s first European shows since 2013 and first South American dates in 17 years. Across 24 shows in 13 European countries, each night will feature two full sets drawn from a catalogue of more than 40 songs.
Rush and Nilles made their first public appearance together at Canada’s Juno Awards in Hamilton, Ontario in late March, performing “Finding My Way” — the opening track from Rush‘s self-titled debut, the only album in their catalogue not to feature Peart. It was Lee and Lifeson‘s first performance under the Rush name since the close of the R40 tour in 2015, though both have appeared at other events in the years since, including tributes to Gordon Lightfoot and Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters.
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