Is Anika Nilles married? All about Rush’s drummer replacing late Neal Peart

Anika Nilles has been chosen as the drummer to replace the late Neal Peart for Rush’s 2026 reunion tour, titled the Fifty Something tour.

The musician will be joining the band, marking its first time back on the track after the death of its longtime drummer, who died in 2020 of brain cancer. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson made the announcement in an October 6, 2025, video on their Instagram accounts.

In the video, Lee opened up about how he came in contact with Nilles, and said:

“I had heard from Scully, my bass tech, who had been on tour with Jeff Beck. He had been working with this drummer named Anika Nilles. He mentioned how impressive she was, how talented and musical she was, and powerful.”

Nilles is a German-based musician who is an accomplished drummer, as per her official website. She has headlined major international drum festivals. As per the reports, she is unmarried and keeps her private life under wraps.

Here are more details.

All we know about Anika Nilles

According to her profile on her official website, Anika Nilles is a drummer from Germany. She was born on May 29, 1983, in Aschaffenburg, Germany.

She comes from a family of musicians, as her father, two uncles, and a cousin are all drummers. She started to play drums when she was only six years old. She studied music at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg in Mannheim.

In 2010, she left her career in social education to pursue her musical career. She first recorded the video of Wild Boy which was a viral hit, as per a report in Ultimate Classic Rock. She later released Alter Ego, which also gained her a massive fan following.

Speaking about her challenges as a drummer with 15 Questions, Anika Nilles said:

“Honestly, learning to push through frustration and staying focused on my goals has been really helpful—though definitely challenging at times. Playing with lots of different musicians, in all kinds of situations and styles, has also taught me a lot. It really opened my eyes to what I need to practice. And I think it’s always a great idea to play with people who are better than you—it pushes you to grow.”

Nilles’ Instagram account has multiple videos of her drumming sessions from concerts and her home. She has a following of 377,000 followers on her Instagram account. On her YouTube channel, she has 225,000 followers.

During an interview with 15 Questions, Anika Nilles said:

“For me, music is all about emotion. On drums, that emotion comes through in dynamics—playing with sound and silence just as much as with notes. And of course, it’s also about the player’s touch.”

Rush’s tour ended in 2015 when its drummer, Neal Peart, announced his retirement. Lee revealed during a press event in October 2025 that they came to know about Anika Nilles through Jeff Beck. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, he said at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame event:

"Sadly, before Jeff passed away, he was on tour with him for a few years, and on the last tour, he was playing with this drummer named Anika Nilles, an incredible drummer, and he would come home, he would rave about her, What a brilliant player she was, and great person, blah, blah, blah...”

He added:

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“So I kind of looked her up, and she's all over YouTube. She's fairly well known in her own world of music. And then we started talking about playing again, so I said, check her out. Maybe that's an interesting way to go. And so one thing led to another, and when we made the decision, we wanted to see if it would work.”

Some of Anika Nilles’ solo albums include Pikalar, Opuntia, and False Truth.

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