‘Distasteful’: Rush’s Geddy Lee says drummers reached out about joining the band after Neil Peart’s passing

By Jill Lances May 19, 2026 | 2:30 PM

(L-R) Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush attend the 2026 JUNO Awards at TD Coliseum on March 29, 2026 in Hamilton, Ontario. (Photo by Jeremy Chan/Getty Images)

Rush is getting ready to hit the road for their first tour since drummer Neil Peart’s death, with Anika Nilles filling in behind the drum kit.

The band stopped touring in 2015 due to Peart’s health. In a new interview with Guitar World, frontman Geddy Lee says after Peart passed in 2020, there plenty of drummers interested in taking over his job — and some were a little too anxious.

“People who are close to us – good friends that are successful drummers – would never infer something like that because they have too much respect, not only for Neil and for the situation,” Lee tells the mag. “They were grieving as well, so they wouldn’t be so selfish as to say something inappropriate like that.”

But, he adds, “there were many other drummers who reached out to me in the aftermath of Neil’s passing that were pushing themselves, and that was most distasteful to me. It was completely inappropriate timing.”

Rush is set to launch their Fifty Something tour with a four-night run in Los Angeles starting June 7. The North American leg wraps Dec. 17 in Vancouver, followed by dates in South America, the U.K. and Europe. The complete touring schedule can be found at Rush.com.