Rush return to the stage after a decade with the Fifty Something Tour, a celebration of more than fifty years of the Canadian trio’s music and a tribute to Neil Peart.
Rush, the Canadian trio who have sold an estimated 43 million albums, play three nights at The O2 arena in North Greenwich from Tuesday 16 to Sunday 21 March 2027. It is their first tour in more than a decade.
The band formed in Toronto in 1968, with Alex Lifeson on guitar and Geddy Lee, who joined soon after, on bass, keyboards and vocals. Neil Peart replaced the original drummer in July 1974, and his lyrics drew the band towards science fiction, fantasy and philosophy.
2112, from 1976, was built around a 20-minute suite and secured the band’s independence from its label. Moving Pictures followed in 1981 and carried “Tom Sawyer”, still their best-known song.
Rush entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. The R40 tour of 2015 closed the original run, and Peart died in January 2020.
The Fifty Something Tour is dedicated to him. The band have rehearsed around 40 songs, so the set changes from one night to the next.
The German drummer and composer Anika Nilles, who played more than 60 shows with Jeff Beck, takes the drum stool. Loren Gold plays keyboards.