There was no escaping it. When frontman/bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson decided that they wanted to take to the stage together as Rush, for the first time since their 2015 farewell show, they faced an impossible decision. Who would be behind the drum kit?
The loss of Neil Peart, the band’s chief lyricist and drummer, who died in 2020, was incalculable. There was no question; the Professor was not someone they could replace, and nor would they try. This reunion is about celebrating Peart’s life and legacy, performing the songs they wrote together. They needed someone special
There would be no shortage of willing candidates. In April 2025, Lifeson spoke of the unedifying spectacle of seeing his inbox being filled by emails from drummers in the immediate aftermath of Peart’s death.
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“After Neil passed, it didn’t take more than a few minutes before we started getting emails from all kinds of drummers who wanted to audition for the band, thinking that we were just gonna replace somebody that we played with for 40 years who wrote all the lyrics for our music,” said Lifeson, speaking to Out Of The Box on NY classic rock station Q1043. “I don’t know what some of these people were thinking.”
Lee reported much the same experience. It was inappropriate. But when it came down to it, choosing a drummer for the tour proved easy. Speaking to MusicRadar, Lee says Anika Nilles, the German drum ace who had previously been playing in the late Jeff Beck’s group, was the first person he thought of, and it’s all thanks to his bass guitar tech.
“He was on tour with Jeff Beck for, I don’t know, a number of years while I was quiet in the touring world, and he was on the tours that Anika did, and so he knew her well,” says Lee. “He knew her playing well. And I remember him coming back from a tour, saying, ‘Dude, if you’re gonna do something musical, think about her. She’s amazing.’ And so I just filed it away after I’d looked her up and listened to her playing, I was like, ‘So impressive.’
“I just loved it. There was just something about her that just felt really special to me, really different. Not a typical rocker. Because she really wasn’t a rocker in that context of her videos.”
Lee kept Nilles in mind. And when he and Lifeson started talking seriously about this reunion project, Nilles was the first person Lee suggested. Lifeson approved.
“We loved the fact she was not part of the scene of people that we knew,” says Lee. “She was an outsider, so to speak, and I thought that was very healthy for Alex and I – and also healthy for our fans, that they wouldn’t be making comparisons with every other band they knew.”
![A black-and-white portrait of Rush's Geddy Lee [left] and Alex Lifeson as they announce their reunion tour.](https://www.inbella.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/UBkXGCbCXZ4DWbUUFrCSbJ.jpg)
(Image credit: Richard Sibbald)
Lee and Lifeson are well aware that this is not an easy gig to step into. It is only natural that fans will inevitably compare her to Peart, willingly or not.
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She was jet-lagged. We had assembled a kit for her there. She just showed up with her drumsticks in hand, and we had at it, and by the fifth day we were convinced she could handle it
“I mean, it’s a terrible position to put someone in. They would always be compared to the man,” says Lee.
The three convened over a Zoom call, a quick interview to see where everyone’s head was at. “She was great,” says Lee. They duly invited her to Canada to see how it would work playing the material. They would spend five days in the spring making some noise together in a rehearsal space.
“She was up for it. She was really up for it. And that’s what we did! It took a few days to get used to it,” says Lee. “She was jet-lagged. We had assembled a kit for her there. She just showed up with her drumsticks in hand, and we had at it, and by the fifth day we were convinced she could handle it.”
And Nilles would have room to stamp her own personality on these parts. There was no question of her using Peart’s old drum kit, or anything like that.
“We didn’t want that,” says Lee. “She’s got her own identity. She needs her own kit. It’s not about… I think we have to be respectful to the things that were Neil, and respectful to the music, obviously, and his drum parts, but also respectful to Anika and her individual personality – that has to be a consideration. So no, she’s playing her kit, and she learned very quickly she can’t play those songs on a small kit, so her kit has grown I will say! [Laughs]”
But Nilles is not the only personnel update. Rush has added keyboardist Loren Gold to the lineup, and having played with the Who and Chicago, he will also be supporting Lifeson on backing vocals.
“It’s a four-piece setup, so when you walk in the building and you see it, you’re gonna know it’s something a little different,” says Lee. “And I’m very excited about that, but the mandate is to be true to the recorded versions of the song.”
Rush have just announced the expansion of their blockbuster Fifty Something Tour with UK, European and South American dates confirmed for 2027. Head to AEG Presents for UK ticket details. Tickets will go on sale Friday, 27 February at 10.00am local time – and there are VIP and travel packages available too.