Rush announces 2026 Fifty Something tour with Anika Nilles as drummer

Cofounders Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson announced that Rush will return to the stage in 2026 for a brief North American tour titled Fifty Something, their first concerts since the 2015 R40 Tour and their first shows since the death of drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. The run opens with two nights at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on June 7 and 9 and concludes September 17 in Cleveland, with stops in Mexico City, Fort Worth, Chicago, New York and the band’s hometown of Toronto.

Lee and Lifeson will be joined on drums by German musician Anika Nilles, who drew attention on YouTube in the early 2010s and has toured and recorded as a solo artist with her band Nevell. The band said most stops will feature two sets per night, with each evening drawing from a 35-song catalogue of hits and fan favorites. Lee said the shows will celebrate "50something years of RUSH music," and the group indicated it may add additional musicians to the touring lineup to expand the live sound and free Lee and Lifeson to cover more musical ground on stage.

The tour announcement follows years of deliberation within the band. Since Peart’s death in January 2020 from glioblastoma, Lee had expressed a greater...