Dream Theater‘s Mike Portnoy is not playing drums in Rush, and that’s just fine with him.
The “Tom Sawyer” rockers shocked the music world in 2025 by announcing they were reuniting for a tour in 2026, marking Rush’s first live shows since the death of legendary drummer Neil Peart in 2020. Bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson will be joined by drummer Anika Nilles in place of Peart.
Had Lee and Lifeson asked Portnoy to take the gig, he tells Metal Hammer, “If they hypothetically ever approached me with it, of course, I would have done it with the utmost respect and [honor].”
“But frankly, I’m kind of relieved they didn’t,” Portony continues. “First of all, filling Neil’s shoes is going to be impossible. If anybody ever thought Mike Mangini filling my shoes was tough, try filling Neil Peart’s shoes!”
Mangini, of course, played drums in Dream Theater after Portnoy left the band in 2010. Portnoy eventually reunited with Dream Theater in 2023, which also would’ve complicated him accepting a potential Rush offer.
“I came back home to Dream Theater, which is where I belong,” Portnoy says. “So if, hypothetically, if they had approached me with this reunion that they’re doing, it would have put me in an incredibly awkward position because of the timing of it all.”
Portnoy adds that he never volunteered himself to take Peart’s spot, noting that it’s “a sacred role that should only ever be filled if Geddy and Alex choose for it to be so.”
“Sure enough, here we are with them choosing to finally do so, which has been really incredible,” Portnoy says.
Rush’s tour launches in June.
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