Rush may have found the surprise successor to Neil Peart’s drum throne, but she nearly balked at playing one of their biggest songs.
With guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist/frontman Geddy Lee exploring a possible reunion, the progressive-rock giants have turned to German fusion drummer Anika Nilles, a left-field choice to step into the role once held by the late Neil Peart.
But when it came time to tackle Rush’s towering 1981 classic “Tom Sawyer,” even the seasoned virtuoso had a moment of hesitation.
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Rush’s decision to retire after their 2015 R40 tour was largely driven by Peart. Speaking to Rolling Stone at the time, Lifeson said the drummer — who died of cancer in 2020 — had found it “increasingly difficult” to perform at the level he expected of himself. The anniversary run was intended as a dignified farewell.
Yet the band’s surviving members appear far from finished. After Lee presented Lifeson with a now-or-never ultimatum, the duo committed to reviving Rush.
They sought out Nilles after a recommendation from Lee’s guitar tech, who had worked with her while she was touring with Jeff Beck. Her background outside the traditional progressive-rock sphere offered a useful degree of separation from Rush’s past, something the duo welcomed.
Lifeson had previously revealed that countless drummers contacted them about replacing Peart just “minutes” after his death. Nilles’ unexpected appointment proved a more thoughtful antidote.
Still, stepping into Rush’s world — and, particularly, their catalog — came with its own pressures.
“It’s really fun to watch Anika as she starts to know the songs,” Lee said in an interview with Planet Rock. “It’s one thing to play it for the first time and work out what parts have to be, essentially, Neil Peart’s parts — and what parts she can make her own.
“That has been wonderful to watch, and really exciting for Al and I, because now she doesn’t have to think about it. She’s just grooving out.”
But the learning curve wasn’t always smooth.
“She didn’t know our music very well. She knew a couple of the big songs. And of course, every drummer on Earth knew Neil and his reputation,” Lee continued. “She knew ‘Tom Sawyer,’ and when we were going to play it for the first time, she just stopped and said, ‘Yikes. I don’t know if I want to play this one.’”
Released on Rush’s landmark 1981 album Moving Pictures, the track became one of the band’s defining songs and a permanent fixture of their live shows. For the recording, Lee famously swapped his usual Rickenbacker 4001 for a pawn-shop Fender Jazz Bass, while Lifeson later admitted he essentially “winged” the guitar solo — preferring spontaneity to the sterility that can come from endless retakes.
The single reached number. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 25 in the U.K., but those numbers barely capture the song’s cultural impact — or the pressure it places on any drummer attempting to fill Peart’s shoes.
“She was kind of nervous because of the importance of that,” Lee said. “But we talked through it, we worked through it. The fills were not the hardest part for her — she could play those no problem. It’s the feel — sitting in that groove that the song has.
The fills were not the hardest part for her. It’s the feel. She’s clued in now. It’s really lovely to see.”
— Geddy Lee
“She’s clued in now. It’s really lovely to see.”
Meanwhile, Lee has not ruled out the possibility of writing new music with Lifeson. They have also recruited keyboardist Loren Gold — who has previously toured with the Who’s Roger Daltrey and with Don Felder — to handle additional parts live and free Lee from some of the multitasking he juggled in Rush’s classic lineup.
For now, Lee frames any future tour as a celebration of Rush’s legacy. But if the chemistry holds, the band’s unexpected second chapter may yet produce something more.
Lifeson, for his part, has already found solace in reflecting on his late bandmate, recently describing the “serene, peaceful” process of writing a tribute song to Peart, an experience that helped him through what he called a deeply “difficult” time.
