Geddy Lee recently addressed the possibility of new Rush music, speaking candidly about the band’s current focus in a recent interview.
The comments came in response to a direct question about whether the band is considering writing new Rush songs with their current lineup. The lineup now includes new drummer Anika Nilles, who stepped in to fill the role of the late Neil Peart for the band’s reunion shows.
When asked, “Are you thinking about possibly working on new Rush songs with the current lineup of the band?” Lee made it clear that new material is not on the agenda.
“No. We have enough to do. We’re still trying to remember the old songs and play them,” Lee said.
Lee went on to explain the enormous challenge Nilles faced in preparing for the reunion shows, highlighting the scale of work involved.
“Anika had to learn something like 43 songs in the course of a year, and those are not easy drum parts to learn. Those are not easy song arrangements to learn, and she was working as hard, I think, as she’s ever worked on anything,” he said. “And sometimes I would text her, I’d say, ‘How’s it going?’ She lives in Germany, we’re in Toronto. I’d say, ‘How’s it going?’ And she’s going, ‘Oh, my hard drive is full. I’m worried that it’s going to crash.'”
Lee described how Nilles balanced remote preparation with in-person rehearsals in Toronto. He noted that working together directly made a significant difference.
“So, she would work really hard on her own. Then she would come to Toronto sporadically and we would work really hard. And I think she found it much easier to work with us in person because there’s a chemistry that we have, and we can reassure her that this part is right, and this part is this long, and no, you have to play this part this way. And so she was like a sponge soaking it all up,” he continued.
Lee praised Nilles not only for her technical ability but also for her dedication and professionalism throughout the process.
“She’s a brilliant player technically, but she’s also a brilliant person, and so she understood the gravity of what she was taking on, and she’s able to rise above the difficulties and deliver,” he said. “So, yeah, I think the last month, as Alex alluded to, we played a full show 24 nights out of 27 days. We’ve never worked that hard in our entire lives. And I’m thankful for it because opening night, we were all a bit of a nervous wreck. And all that rehearsal paid off. [Laughs]”
With new music ruled out for now, Rush’s focus remains firmly on delivering the classic catalog to fans through their ongoing reunion shows. The scale of that effort has already proven to be far larger than anyone initially anticipated.
Lee and Alex Lifeson announced the Fifty Something Tour in October 2025. It marked the band’s first major run together since the conclusion of the R40 Tour in 2015. What began as a modest twelve-date North American run quickly expanded after overwhelming fan demand. The tour now stretches from June 2026 through April 2027 and spans both Europe and the Americas.
Nilles is a German drummer widely respected in the progressive and jazz fusion world. She has been embraced by Rush’s notoriously devoted fanbase. Neither Lee nor Lifeson has ever described her as a replacement for Peart — a distinction the band has been deliberate about maintaining. The shows have been framed as a celebration of Peart’s life and drumming legacy, with Nilles tasked with honoring that legacy rather than replicating it.
The tour has already produced some landmark moments. Rush completed a four-night sold-out residency at Madison Square Garden in late July 2026. Drum-cam footage of Nilles’ full performances drew widespread attention online. Reviews from major stops including Chicago and New York praised both the band’s energy and Nilles’ command of Peart’s notoriously complex parts. Critics described the shows as a joyful and emotionally resonant celebration.
The band’s Toronto homecoming has added another layer of significance to the reunion. Rush is performing four shows at Scotiabank Arena in August 2026 — the first time the band has played their hometown in over a decade. All four nights are being filmed. The footage is expected to form the basis of a new live concert film, to be released alongside a 50th anniversary reissue of the landmark album 2112. Rush is also in early talks for a Las Vegas Sphere residency, though no dates or official announcements have been confirmed.
