RUSH surprised fans on Monday morning with the announcement of a 2026 North American tour, marking their first shows in 11 years. Even more surprising may have been their choice of drummer to fill the shoes of the late Neil Peart: the relatively unknown Anika Nilles.
Interestingly, RUSH frontman Geddy Lee first mentioned Nilles’ name in a 2023 interview with The Guardian, saying, “I heard this drummer the other day, I think her name is Anika. She played on the last Jeff Beck tour and I thought was she was terrific.”
On Sunday night, October 5th, at a press event at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland (as transcribed by Ultimate Classic Rock), Lee revealed how Nilles became RUSH’s new drummer.
“My bass tech, Skully was working with Jeff Beck and he was on tour,” began Lee. “Sadly, before Jeff passed away, he was on tour with him for a few years, and on the last tour, he was playing with this drummer named Anika Nilles, an incredible drummer, and he would come home, he would rave about her, What a brilliant player she was, and great person, blah, blah, blah…”
He continued, “So I kind of looked her up, and she’s all over YouTube. She’s fairly well known in her own world of music. And then we started talking about playing again, so I said, check her out. Maybe that’s an interesting way to go. And so one thing led to another, and when we made the decision, we wanted to see if it would work.”
Lee went on to say that he and guitarist Alex Lifeson didn’t exactly know what their intentions were when they brought Nilles in to jam with them, even likening it to an “experiment.”
“No matter who the drummer is, they all have their own perception of what it’s like to play a RUSH song, and they may not line up with the way we play RUSH,” Lee said. “So whoever we were going to choose was going to be difficult, and there was going to be like a translation. And so we very secretly brought Anika to Canada, and we did it wasn’t an audition, because at that point we weren’t really sure that we were going to tour. It was all an experiment.”
Having jammed with Nille multiple times now, the RUSH singer-bassist is confident in her ability to sit behind the kit on RUSH’s upcoming tour.
“I’m very happy to say that she is fantastic to play with, and we’ve had now a number of sessions with her, and we’re going to go on the road with her,” Lee added. “I think she’s a remarkable story. And you know, she’s much younger than us. I know it’s hard to believe, and I like that, that she came to RUSH music without any preconceptions. It also made it very difficult, because we had to explain nuances and work on subtleties, and she had to really try to get into Neil’s headspace and his feel.”
He concluded, “A lot of drummers can play Neil’s drum fills, but to combine that with the feel of those songs so that it feels the way you guys want to hear those songs. That’s work, that requires work. So she’s winning.”
Tickets for RUSH’s 2026 comeback are sold out. However, fans can still look for deals or get tickets to sold-out shows via StubHub, where orders are 110% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.
Watch RUSH’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson talk about their reunion and new drummer Anika Nilles at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame below.
RUSH 2026 Tour Dates:
06/07 – Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum [Buy Tickets]
06/09 – Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum [Buy Tickets]
06/11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum [Buy Tickets]
06/13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum [Buy Tickets]
06/18 – Mexico City, MX @ Palacio de los Deportes
06/20 – Mexico City, MX @ Palacio de los Deportes
06/24 – Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena [Buy Tickets]
06/26 – Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena [Buy Tickets]
06/28 – Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena [Buy Tickets]
06/30 – Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena [Buy Tickets]
07/16 – Chicago, IL @ United Center [Buy Tickets]
07/18 – Chicago, IL @ United Center [Buy Tickets]
07/20 – Chicago, IL @ United Center [Buy Tickets]
07/22 – Chicago, IL @ United Center [Buy Tickets]
07/28 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden [Buy Tickets]
07/30 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden [Buy Tickets]
08/01 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden [Buy Tickets]
08/03 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden [Buy Tickets]
08/07 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena [Buy Tickets]
08/09 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena [Buy Tickets]
08/11 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena [Buy Tickets]
08/13 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena [Buy Tickets]
08/21 — Philadelphia, PA @ Xfinity Mobile Arena [Buy Tickets]
08/23 — Philadelphia, PA @ Xfinity Mobile Arena [Buy Tickets]
08/26 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena [Buy Tickets]
08/28 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena [Buy Tickets]
09/02 — Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre [Buy Tickets]
09/04 — Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre [Buy Tickets]
09/12 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden [Buy Tickets]
09/14 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden [Buy Tickets]
09/17 – Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Arena [Buy Tickets]
09/19 – Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Arena [Buy Tickets]
09/23 — San Antonio, TX @ Frost Bank Center [Buy Tickets]
09/25 — San Antonio, TX @ Frost Bank Center [Buy Tickets]
10/05 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena [Buy Tickets]
10/07 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena [Buy Tickets]
10/10 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena [Buy Tickets]
10/12 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena [Buy Tickets]
10/15 — San Jose, CA @ SAP Center [Buy Tickets]
10/17 — San Jose, CA @ SAP Center [Buy Tickets]
10/25 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena [Buy Tickets]
10/27 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena [Buy Tickets]
10/30 — Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena [Buy Tickets]
11/01 — Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena [Buy Tickets]
11/05 — Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live [Buy Tickets]
11/07 — Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live [Buy Tickets]
11/09 — Tampa, FL @ Benchmark International Arena [Buy Tickets]
11/11 — Tampa, FL @ Benchmark International Arena [Buy Tickets]
11/20 — Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center [Buy Tickets]
11/22 — Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center [Buy Tickets]
11/25 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena [Buy Tickets]
11/27 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena [Buy Tickets]
12/01 — Glendale, AZ @ Desert Diamond Arena [Buy Tickets]
12/03 — Glendale, AZ @ Desert Diamond Arena
12/10 — Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place [Buy Tickets]
12/12 — Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place [Buy Tickets]
12/15 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena [Buy Tickets]
12/17 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena [Buy Tickets]
