Geddy Lee Says Rush Not Planning New Music, Focused on Current Tour

Rush frontman Geddy Lee says the band is not considering new material at this time, as he and guitarist Alex Lifeson focus on their current tour after an 11-year hiatus.

Lee and Lifeson recently returned to performing, joined by drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold. Both musicians said preparing for the tour was the hardest they have ever worked.

"We had a schedule," Lifeson told Radio Futuro in a recent interview. "We laid out what our rehearsal schedule was going to be, with an end date being in May 2026, that we had to get everything done by then."

"At the beginning we thought, 'Oh, that's plenty of time. We'll get it done!' The last couple of weeks were, like, 'Oh my God, we gotta really focus on this and really put it together!'"

Lee said rehearsals were especially demanding for Nilles, who replaced the late Neil Peart.

"She had to learn something like 43 songs in the course of a year, and those are not easy drum parts to learn," Lee said. "She would work really hard on her own, then she would come to Toronto sporadically and we would work really hard together. I think she found it much easier to work with us in person, because there's a chemistry that we have. We can reassure her, 'This part is right, this part is this long, and no, you have to play this part this way.'"

Lee added, "The last month, as Alex alluded to, we played a full show 24 nights out of 27 days. We've never worked that hard in our entire lives. I'm thankful for it, because opening night, we were all a bit of a nervous wreck. And all that rehearsal paid off."

Lee also tried to help Nilles and Gold adapt to the challenge. "I said, 'Look, these are complicated songs. You are going to make a mistake. It's not about the mistake - it's about how you recover from the mistake. So just play; just keep playing and don't worry.'"

He said this approach helped them relax. "When you write a part, it's automatically in your DNA; you understand it inside out. But when you're coming to learn it as an outsider, you try to break it down into the laws of music, and our songs don't adhere to the laws of music."

Lee said he feels grateful for the current lineup's chemistry. "I'm ecstatic that we're playing so well and that the musicians we've chosen to join us on stage have jelled the way they have. I'm not pretending when you see me smiling up there."

He noted that he wants to enjoy every show. "It's a joyous moment for me, and I know there are only so many gigs left in my body, so I'm going to enjoy them while I can."

Asked about the possibility of new music, Lee said, "No. We have enough to do. We're still trying to remember the old songs and play them."