Rush perform first awards show in almost 50 years alongside new drummer

Rush perform at the 2026 Juno Awards in Hamilton, on Sunday, March 29, 2026.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

HAMILTON — Rush frontman Geddy Lee says the band’s late drummer Neil Peart would be “very pleased” with their comeback performance at Sunday’s Juno Awards.

The Toronto prog-rock legends opened the ceremony with their first performance at an awards show since 1978.

They played “Finding My Way” from their debut album.

Fans were also introduced to their new drummer Anika Nilles, filling in for Neil Peart, who died in 2020.

Speaking with reporters backstage, Lee said Peart is “irreplaceable” but that music lives beyond tragedy.

He added he thinks the iconic stickman would give a “thumbs up” to their choice of a new drummer in Nilles, a German musician who launched her career on YouTube in the 2010s.

There were clips of Peart playing with Rush on the big screen behind the band during the performance.

“You know, music lives beyond tragedy, beyond anything that can happen in your life. One thing we’ve learned over the last 10 years is that music is still a part of us, and so to play it now with someone as young and exciting as Annika, it’s just another tribute to him,” Lee said, speaking to reporters in the media room with guitarist Alex Lifeson.

“I think he’d be very pleased with our choice of drummer, and I think he would have a bit of a smirk on his face. A thumbs up, I hope,” Lee added.

“We’ve been rehearsing with her on and off for about a year now. And now it’s very comfortable and she’s expressing her personality, which is nice to see. A fantastic person, lovely, easy to work with ... we consider ourselves so fortunate because she was really the only drummer we tried to work with and she’s just been perfect for us. And she fires us up. She’s a bonus.”

The Canadian band is set to embark on a world tour, dubbed the “Fifty Something” tour.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2026.

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press