Rush opened the 2026 Juno Awards on 03/29 with their first live performance in over 11 years, and the first of any kind since the death of drummer and lyricist Neil Peart in January 2020.
Playing the TD Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, new drummer Anika Nilles, and keyboardist Loren Gold ripped through “Finding My Way,” the opening track from the band’s 1974 self-titled debut.
The song choice was no accident, even if the decision-making was straightforward. Speaking to reporters in the media room after the performance, Lee explained (via CBC Music): “You really can’t ask us what song to play. If we have to choose one song, it’s almost impossible. We have so many. So we just asked management, and they said first song, first album.”
Lifeson had a simpler explanation: “Also, it’s the only song we know how to play.”
The appearance had been teased by the band in the lead-up to the ceremony with a deliberately cryptic newsletter message to fans: “We want to let you in on something. Celebrate a special moment with Geddy & Alex.” The Juno Awards Instagram account had added to the build-up by posting a photo of the band’s 1975 Juno for Most Promising Group with the caption: “What a promising year… 03/29/2026 at 8 PM ET.”
The performance at Hamilton’s TD Coliseum marked the first time Lee and Lifeson had played as Rush since closing out their career-spanning R40 tour at the Forum in Los Angeles on 08/01/2015. In the decade-plus since, the two had appeared together only sporadically — billed under their own names rather than the band’s — including at tributes to the late Gordon Lightfoot and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
The Juno outing doubles as a warm-up for the Fifty Something tour, which opens 06/07 at the same Forum in Los Angeles where Rush played their last show with Peart in 2015. What was announced in October 2025 as a modest 12-date North American run has since expanded into 58 shows across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with four nights at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena in August among the additions. Each concert is designed as an immersive two-set evening drawing from a rotating pool of approximately 35 songs.
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