How would the late Neil Peart feel about Rush returning to the stage for their upcoming 2026 reunion tour?
The band’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson took that question during a press conference following their inaugural performance with drummer Anika Nilles at Canada’s annual Juno Awards on Mar. 29.
“Neil is irreplaceable,” Lee commented about their longtime bandmate and friend, who passed away in 2020. He humorously added, “If he had something to say to us right now, he’d probably say, ‘You guys are idiots!'”
“But you know, music lives beyond tragedy [and] beyond anything that can happen in your life,” he continued. “One thing we’ve learned over the last ten years is that music is still a part of us. So to play it now with someone as young and as exciting as Anika, is just another tribute to him. I think he’d be very pleased with our choice of drummer. I think he would have a bit of a smirk in his face [and] a thumbs up, I hope.”
READ MORE: Watch Rush Make Their 2026 Live Debut at the Juno Awards
The Upcoming Reunion Tour is Overwhelming
Lifeson was quick to admit that the scope of the Fifty Something tour is more than they expected. When they were asked what they were looking forward to about the pending run, he quickly quipped, “Living to the end of it!”
He then got more serious with his answer, “It’s grown from a handful to about 85 shows, which is more than we’ve done in quite some time,” he explained. “So it’s a chance to be really disciplined and really dive into this, [the] new production and the show with these new players [Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold]. I think it’s going to be a wonderful experience for us to live through. It’s going to be exhausting, but I think we’ll come out better for it at the end.”
For Lee, he sees it as a chance also to take care of a regret that’s leftover from their previous outing. “One place I’m looking forward to going back to is to play in Europe and South America,” he shared. “Because we didn’t get there on the R40 tour, and I know there were a lot of disappointed fans. So this is one way we can finally thank them.”
How They Chose Their First Song for the Junos
Rush performed “Finding My Way,” the first track of their debut album, a surprise choice for their Junos return. The band reportedly hadn’t performed the song in full since 1974.
“Well, you really can’t ask us what song to play. If you have to choose one song, it’s almost [impossible],” Lee admitted. “So we just asked management and said, ‘Hey, what song should we play?’ And they said, first song, first album.”
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Gallery Credit: Ryan Reed
