She has also thanked Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Rush drummer Anika Nilles
New Rush drummer Anika Nilles says it’s “truly an honour” to be joining Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson on their reunion tour in 2026.
On Monday (6th October), Geddy and Alex dropped the momentous news that Rush will be returning to the stage in North America next summer more than a decade on from the conclusion of the R40 Live Tour.
Playing drums on the Fifty Something Tour will be 42-year-old German musician Anika Nilles, who is perhaps best-known for performing with Jeff Beck on his final tour in 2022.
Sharing Rush’s announcement video on Instagram on Monday, Anika Nilles referenced the huge job she has following in the footsteps of the late-great Neil Peart.
“It’s truly an honour,” Anika said of joining Rush. “Big shoes to fill! Thank you, Geddy and Alex, for trusting me and welcoming me on this incredible journey with you!”
Neil Peart performing with Rush in 2025
In an interview about the reunion at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Foster Theater in Cleveland, Ohio, Geddy Lee shed more light on how they recruited Anika.
“My bass tech Skully (John McIntosh) was working with Jeff Beck,” Geddy said. “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.
“He would come home, he would rave about her, what a brilliant player she was and great person, and blah, blah, blah. 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.
“I said to Al, I said, ‘Check her out. Maybe that’s an interesting way to go.’ One thing led to another, and when we made the decision we wanted to see if it would work, what’s it like to play with another drummer, we’d had that experience, of course, at the Taylor Hawkins tributes (London and Los Angeles concerts in 2022).
“So we know how difficult it is – 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 songs. So, whoever we were going to choose was going to be difficult and there’s going to be like a translation.”
Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Geddy continued: “We very secretly brought Anika to Canada. 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. Anyway, 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 are going to go on the road with her.
“I think she’s a remarkable story, and she’s much younger than us. 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. 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 wanna hear those songs, that’s work. That requires work, and she’s winning.”
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Rush’s Fifty Something Tour dates:
JUNE 2026
Los Angeles Kia Forum – Sun 7th
Los Angeles Kia Forum – Tue 9th
Mexico City Palacio de los Deportes – Thu 18th
Fort Worth Dickies Arena – Wed 24th
Fort Worth Dickies Arena – Fri 26th
JULY 2026
Chicago United Center – Thu 16th
Chicago United Center – Sat 17th
New York Madison Square Garden – Tue 28th
New York Madison Square Garden – Thu 30th
AUGUST 2026
Toronto Scotiabank Arena – Fri 7th
Toronto Scotiabank Arena – Sun 9th
Cleveland Rocket Arena – Thu 17th