Yesterday I learned that Rush, the Canadian rock band that I’ve loved for more than 40 years, will resume touring in 2026.
The band officially retired in 2015. And after the death of drummer/songwriter Neil Peart in 2020, most of us believed that a Rush revival would be out of the question.
But it turns out we were wrong about that.
Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee will be joined onstage by German drummer Anika Nilles. Since the announcement, I’ve seen lots of armchair quarterbacking online, about Nilles filling in as Neil Peart’s replacement.
Most of the feedback has been positive, but I have also seen plenty of negative comments. A few wags have remarked, tongue-in-cheek, that Nilles’ debut concert will mark the first time a woman has been present at a Rush show. (While female Rush fans are not unknown, the typical Rush fan is a Gen X male, often one with nerdy tendencies. And yes—I’m one of them.)
Some old guard Rush fans are understandably overcome by cognitive dissonance. I wouldn’t chalk up their reactions to simple sexism. Reverse ageism would be more likely. Anika Nilles wasn’t even born when Signals came out in 1982—the year I discovered Rush at the age of 14.
Plenty of the bands we Gen Xers grew up with have changed their lineups multiple times over the years: Journey, AC/DC, Kansas, Def Leppard, etc. Fleetwood Mac has had eighteen different members at various times. Chicago’s “past members” list on Wikipedia reads like the roster of a baseball team.
But since the mid-1970s, there were only three members of Rush: Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and Neil Peart. Three and only three. There was never a large enough lineup for any member of Rush to fade to the background or get lost in the crowd.
The new Rush lineup will not be the same band that you would have seen in concert in 1978 or 1985. But then, that would have been the case anyway. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are now 72 years old. They aren’t entirely the same musicians they used to be. Alex Lifeson suffers from arthritis, and Geddy Lee now struggles with some of those high notes.
And on a more personal note, yours truly—the 14-year-old who discovered Rush in 1982? I recently turned 57.
My point here is that the passage of so much time means that change is inevitable. I wish it were otherwise. At my age, “Time Stand Still” is pretty much my theme song. But things change anyway.
I’ve listened to Anika Nilles’ playing on YouTube, and she sounds pretty good to me. She was good enough to play for Jeff Beck, and I’m sure Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee put her through a stringent vetting. Those two could have had just about any unattached drummer they wanted, and they chose her.
I say we give her a chance and enjoy what will be in 2026, even if it isn’t exactly what once was.
-ET