Rush makes their return to the stage, pays tribute to drummer Neil Peart

(L-R) Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush perform during the opening night of their first American tour in 11 years at The Kia Forum on June 07, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)

Rush returned to the stage Sunday night in Los Angeles, kicking off their Fifty Something tour and marking the band’s first tour since August 2015. It's also Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson’s first time on tour since the 2020 death of Neil Peart. Drummer Anika Nilles is filling in behind the drum kit.

According to setlist.fm, the band opened with "Xanadu," from the 1977 album, A Farewell To Kings, marking the first time the song has served as a concert opener.

The show was broken down into two sets and featured performances of classic Rush tunes like "Limelight," "Subdivisions," "Freewill" and "The Spirit of the Radio." He also took the stage with three songs from 1976's 2112: "Overture," "The Temples of Sphynx" and "Grand Finale," which opened the second set.

Before closing the concert, the band played a video featuring characters from South Park, introducing the night's final song, their iconic tune "Tom Sawyer."

Peart was certainly wasn’t forgotten during the show. The band took a moment to pay tribute to their late drummer.

During the first set, they showed a video montage of Peart accompanied by audio of him discussing how he got started playing drums and what he loved about it. They then dedicated the song "Bravado," from 1991's Roll The Bones, to him.

A second tribute was shown during the second set prior to a performance of "Time Stand Still" from 1987's Hold Your Fire. The performance featured special guest Aimee Mann, who sang her part of the song live with the band for the first time.

"We're here for so many reasons," Lee said during the show. "We're here to celebrate over 50 years of music that [Lifeson], myself and the great Neil Peart made together. We're here to pay tribute to Neil."

Rush returns to the Forum in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

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