Watch: RUSH Kicks Off 2026 'Fifty Something' Tour In Los Angeles, Plays First Show With Drummer ANIKA NILLES

Canadian rock legends RUSH kicked off their first tour in 11 years Sunday night (June 7) in Los Angeles, California. The band's first trek since the passing of iconic RUSH drummer Neil Peart is launching with a four-night stand at the Forum, the same venue that was the site of RUSH's last concert with Peart in August 2015.

The "Fifty Something" tour is RUSH's first with the band's revamped lineup of classic members Geddy Lee (vocals, bass) and Alex Lifeson (guitar) alongside Anika Nilles, a German drummer who toured with legendary guitarist Jeff Beck in 2022, and newly added keyboardist Loren Gold, who is best known as touring member of THE WHO and CHICAGO.

RUSH's setlist for "Fifty Something" is culled from a pool of around 40 RUSH classics, with the band playing two sets a night that celebrate Peart's life and legacy.

The setlist for RUSH's June 7, 2026 concert at Kia Forum in Los Angeles was as follows:

(Tape) Where's Rush?
01. Xanadu (first time as show opener)
02. Limelight (first time since 2013)
03. Far Cry (with touring band introductions)
04. Subdivisions
05. Freewill (first time since 2011)
(Tape) Neil Peart Tribute Collage 1
06. Bravado (first time since 2013, dedicated to Neil Peart)
07. Caravan (first time since 2013)
08. La Villa Strangiato (first time since 2011)
09. Vital Signs (first time since 2011)
10. The Spirit Of Radio

Set 2:

(Tape) Countdown
11. 2112 Part I: Overture
12. 2112 Part II: The Temples Of Syrinx
13. 2112 Part VII: Grand Finale
14. Distant Early Warning
15. Red Barchetta
16. Dreamline (first time since 2013)
(Tape) Bird-dy Lee Sketch
17. Natural Science
(Tape) Neil Peart Tribute Collage 2
18. Time Stand Still (with Aimee Mann) (first time since 2011)
19. Red Sector A (first time since 2013)
20. YYZ
21. The Garden (first time since 2013)
(Tape) "South Park" Intro
22. Tom Sawyer

Encore:

23. By-Tor & The Snow Dog (first time since 2004)
24. Working Man
(Tape) Neil Peart Tribute

In a recent issue of U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine, Lee explained why he and Lifeson decided to tour under the RUSH name in 2026 without Peart. Admitting that the issue was a hot topic of debate within the RUSH camp, Lee said: "What else do you fucking call it?

"When the band ended, we said it's only RUSH with Neil in it," he continued. "Which, of course, is true. RUSH as most people know it. But, you know, over five gigs we will be playing forty RUSH songs. So what the fuck should we call it, IRON MAIDEN?"

Having gotten the blessing from Peart's family for Lee and Lifeson to tour under the RUSH name once again, Geddy said that it was natural for them to go use the moniker that they have had for more than five decades.

"We were twisting ourselves into a pretzel to try to avoid using the name that we have had for fifty years, and even before Neil came," Lee said.

"It just seems silly to go on as 'Lee And Lifeson Present The Music Of…'" Lee concluded. "Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Let's just be who we are and have been for over fifty years."

The 2026 leg of the "Fifty Something" tour, which will cover Canada, USA and Mexico, initially consisted of 22 dates, which sold out immediately, prompting the addition of more shows. The tour now totals 58 shows across 24 cities, with over half a million tickets sold for 2026.

In February, RUSH announced the addition of South America and Europe tour dates to the "Fifty Something" tour, in early 2027. The dates will be the first time the band has played in Europe since 2013 and 17 years since visiting South America.

Performing 24 shows across 13 European countries, these special "evening with" shows will find the band playing two sets each night. Each show will feature a distinct selection of songs and RUSH will build each night's setlist from a catalog of more than 40 songs, including their greatest hits and fan favorites.

RUSH performed in public with Nilles for the first time at Canada's Juno Awards in Hamilton, Ontario in late March. They played "Finding My Way", the first song from RUSH's first album, the band's only LP not to feature Peart.

The Juno Awards performance was Lee and Lifeson's first as RUSH since they finished their 40th-anniversary tour in 2015, although they have performed under their own names on occasion, including tributes to legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot and Taylor Hawkins of the FOO FIGHTERS.

In an interview with producer and YouTuber Rick Beato, Geddy and Alex confirmed that RUSH will play, over the course of four shows in a particular city, 38 different songs from the band's vast catalog. Asked if there will be tracks from every RUSH record, Geddy responded: "I haven't checked. I have not checked. I don't think every record is represented, and some are over-represented for kind of obvious reasons. And what's interesting, and one of the reasons I really wanted to go out on tour is there's so many fan letters and messages I get from fans that became young musicians after our last gig. And they really would love to hear some of those songs. And so that's an opportunity for them, and, of course, they're not fortunate enough to hear Neil play those songs, but we'll do our best to make them happy."

Regarding the preparation for the "Fifty Something" tour, Alex said: "Well, that's the difference. In the past, we would plan a couple of months maybe, six weeks, on our own. We'd have a list of about four hours' worth of music. Then we'd sort of whittle it down to what the show would probably be. And then we would have a month together. So you've already prepped, and then we're together for a month, and then we would go into full production somewhere in an arena somewhere for maybe 10 days, and then the tour would start. So we have the benefit of four months, basically, of prep. This time around, Anika had to learn all these songs."

Geddy chimed in: "And one important thing that goes unmentioned is when you're preparing for a tour, when we would prepare for a tour with Neil, we're working really on new material that we just recorded, because the old stuff we knew. For this tour, we're starting from scratch and we're really teaching an incredibly talented, exciting drummer that comes from a very different school of music how to understand 40 songs from this weird, idiosyncratic band. That's a horse of an entirely different color. And that was difficult, but also exciting because when all the tumblers fall into place and she gets the vibe and she's feeling it, and her and I are playing together, and we're smiling. And it's, like, 'Oh, this is gonna be so much fun.' And she's embraced it. She's an amazing talent, but she's such a great person. She's got the right attitude. She works hard. She's not afraid to work hard. And she loves to play the same way we love to play, so we have that in common. Maybe every musician has that — I don't know; I imagine so — but it's been good for us to be around… And she brings something fresh. She brings a different story to our story. And I think that's really nice. And I think our fans have responded to the fact that we didn't get someone from another famous band and all that, 'Well, you should've got this guy or that guy.' This is a whole different feeling. It's non-competitive. And we're very lucky, 'cause she's the only drummer we thought of. We tried out one drummer."

Alex continued: "And after this time together, we've really bonded. It's not just about playing the songs and learning the music and playing it; it's about really falling in love with each other. And there's such a strong feeling, a joyful feeling of working together, playing together, and it just gets better and better and better as we progress with the songs. Now that we're at the stage where we're just playing everything and starting to get our pacing, it's just so much fun. We just can't wait every day to get back in here and do it."

Geddy added: "We added one song, one extra song recently. And she freaked out. I knew she would freak out, but she freaked out. She said, 'My hard drive is full.' And this song has a lot of complicated time signature changes. And so we made a deal. We pulled two songs out in exchange for this one song. She said, 'Okay.' [Laughs] But she's up for it. And that's a very difficult seat to sit in. And some people will never forgive us for going on with somebody else. And she has the guts to sit in that seat, to accept that gig and take whatever fans are gonna dish out. And that's not a small thing. That's a huge thing. And it's not out of arrogance. It's out of confidence and respect for Neil. When you hear her talk about Neil, she really understands and appreciates his greatness. And none of this that happens is diminishing his greatness by one iota."

Nilles, who has more than 275,000 subscribers on YouTube, toured with English rocker Jeff Beck in 2022 and was praised in 2023 by Lee, who told The Guardian at the time: "She played on the last Jeff Beck tour, and I thought she was terrific."

Nilles's official Instagram account, which is filled with her drumming videos, boasts more than 485,000 followers.

In a recent interview with Classic Rock magazine, Anika stated about Neil: "His playing was very energetic, and I really like that. That's something I feel very comfortable with. I also love playing in a very energetic way. That's the first thing that comes to mind, and something I really appreciate about his playing. He also had an incredible range of tonal colors. He had a very melodic approach to drumming and used a wide variety of sounds to achieve that. That set him apart and made him stand out to many drummers, for whom he was — and still is — a role model. He had a very distinctive way of playing the ride cymbal. When you listen to the music, that cymbal always stands out prominently. He had a very distinctive snare sound as well. There are certain signature sounds that come directly from his playing — not from the equipment, but from him. You recognize him immediately. Adapting to his way of playing is a challenge."

"Neil rarely repeated himself," she continued. "He kept bringing something new into the song. Even if a section repeated in terms of songwriting, his drumming the second time was different from the first. That makes it exciting and is part of what gives the songs their identity. At the same time, it's a challenge to remember all those details, because they're important. It's a composition; you can't just ignore certain parts, they're all essential and have to be played. That's challenging."

Peart died in January 2020 after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was 67 years old.

RUSH waited three days to announce Peart's passing, setting off shockwaves and an outpouring of grief from fans and musicians all over the world.