One of 2025’s most surprising music stories was that Rush surviving members Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee were heading back out on the road with Anika Nilles behind the drum kit. In a new interview, their bass-playing frontman has now suggested studio time could follow their now-extended tour.
The Canadian prog rock giants retired in 2015 upon the conclusion of their R40 Live Tour, in celebration of four decades together. A little less than five years later, drummer and chief lyricist Neil Peart passed away after a battle with glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer. His death seemed to confirm Rush were finished.
Then, in January 2025, Lifeson revealed that he and Lee had been meeting up for weekly jams, but downplayed any reunion hopes.
Perhaps those sessions lit a spark. By October, the duo were announcing that Rush was back in business. As Lee said upon announcing their upcoming tour, “Alex and I have done some serious soul searching and come to the decision that we fucking miss it.”
Cue the left-field appointment of former Jeff Beck drummer Anika Nilles, whom Lee calls “remarkable.”
Their initial 12-date tour has now been extended to meet surging demand, and Lee, speaking to MusicRadar , has hinted at what lies ahead for Rush beyond their comeback shows.
“My intent, before we got into this celebration of Rush’s history, was to put some music together," Geddy explains. “Now, I assumed I would be doing that on my own, not with Alex, but when we started jamming, I started seeing the possibility of doing something with Alex. But all of that went on hold now because there's too much work to do for this tour to even think about that.
“But,” he adds, “if we manage to survive the tour and go back to Canada and have a rest, who knows what'll happen. I suspect some music will eventually come out.
“It would be fun to see what [Anika] can do in a creative situation. But it's all speculation until it isn't, so…”
For Lee, it would represent his first significant musical release since Rush’s final album, Clockwork Angels, in 2012. Lifeson, though, found a second wind with Envy of None, whom he formed with Coney Hatch bassist Andy Curran, producer/engineer Alfio “Alf” Annibalini, and young singer-songwriter Maiah Wynne.
The guitarist says he “bloomed” on their second LP, Stygian Waves, which also saw him embracing digital amps and falling back in love with guitar solos.
Speaking to Guitar Player last year ahead of Rush's return to the stage, Lifeson recalled writing their most complicated song and the dreams that helped inspire his music.
In related news, Epiphone has announced a reissue of Lifeson's workhorse ES-355, "Whitey", a guitar that's featured on every Rush album. He's also said that he still owns and records with his first-ever guitar, despite its humble $57 price tag.
