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Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, two-thirds of the classic lineup of RUSH, are set to tour again under the legendary prog-rock band’s name following drummer Neil Peart’s passing in 2020.
RUSH are hitting the road in 2026 and 2027 as part of their extensive “Fifty Something” reunion tour. They’ve tapped Anika Nilles as their new drummer, with the blessing of Peart’s family. Still, it was a source of internal conflict for the two core members, who are every bit as synonymous with the band as their late bandmate Peart (who ranks No. 3 on Consequence‘s list of the 100 Best Drummers of All Time).
“When the band ended, we said it’s only RUSH with Neil in it, which, of course, is true,” Lee told Classic Rock magazine in a new interview. “RUSH as most people know it. But over [every] five gigs [on this tour], we will be playing 40 RUSH songs, so what the fuck should we call it, Iron Maiden?”
He continued, “It just seems silly to go on as ‘Lee and Lifeson Present the Music Of…’ Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Let’s just be who we are and have been for over 50 years… We were twisting ourselves into a pretzel to try to avoid using the name that we have had for fifty years, and even before Neil came.”
The band, which spent the first six years of their existence without legendary and deeply missed Peart, dates back to the high school days of both Lifeson and Lee. Their earliest incarnation in 1968 featured Lifeson, singer-bassist Jeff Jones (who was replaced by Lee a few months after its formation), and drummer John Rutsey, who eventually recorded drums on their 1974 debut album before being replaced by Peart a few months after its release.
Lee and Lifeston are still sensitive to the importance of Peart to RUSH, with Lee noting, “Without Neil… I’ll be frank. There are some songs you play where it kind of hits you, it’s bad, and it feels weird. And it’s appropriate that that happens.”
He added, “If we just picked up and went on without feeling any tug of anything, that would be absurd, that would be a whole other thing. And there’ll be moments in both sets where we’ll pay tribute to him. We’re working hard on that, making sure that it’s appropriate.”
RUSH gave their first performance with new drummer Anika Nilles at Canada’s Juno Awards last week (watch below). Tickets for their upcoming reunion tour are available here.
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