Rush shake up Juno Awards with surprise early reunion after 11 years away
Rush rocked the Juno Awards in Canada over the weekend by giving a surprise performance of one of their greatest hits, marking their first live appearance in 11 years.
The Toronto rock band previously announced their comeback tour last year, which is set to take place over the coming months, but no one was expecting them to take to the stage at the awards ceremony on March 29th to perform ‘Finding My Way’, a track they haven’t played live in full since 1976.
It comes as the first Rush outing since the end of their R40 Live Tour in August 2015, celebrating 40 years of their original drummer, Neil Peart, being in the band. Peart tragically passed away at the start of January 2020, following a battle with brain cancer.
Subsequently, the surprise performance at the Juno Awards was also the premiere of Rush’s new touring band, with original members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson being joined by new drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold.
When announcing their reunion tour last October, Geddy and Lifeson expressed their delight at fans’ reaction to the news, with the former jokingly saying they had become “an overnight sensation after 50 years.”
Due to massive demand for the tour, the initial North American run, beginning on June 7th at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, was extended twice from 12 dates to an overall 50 across the country.
As a result, further legs were added in other continents across the world, including South America and Europe. For the latter, the band confirmed last month that they will visit Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Munich, Cologne, Hamburg, and Stuttgart next year.
On top of this, the UK run of dates will consist of shows in Glasgow, Manchester, and two nights at the O2 Arena in London to round out the massive tour.
Upon the announcement, Lee said in a statement: “We can’t wait to get back to all these cities we haven’t played in so long, as well as hitting some new places we’ve yet to play. Both Alex and I are loving the hours of rehearsal time we’re spending with Anika and now Loren, learning around 40 songs which will enable us to keep the shows evolving, playing some different songs on different nights.”
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