Following the death from cancer of their brilliant drummer Neil Peart, rockers around the world believed that Rush were no more. They were one of those bands, weren’t they, where each member was a vital and irreplaceable component. If the surviving members, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, were to tour again, they wouldn’t be Rush anymore, would they? But Rush do have a new drummer and they are going to tour again. As one of those, admittedly elderly, rockers around the world, I am delighted, even more so that the new drummer is a woman, Aneka Nilles.
What? A woman? How very dare they? Few if any of the great rock bands, and the not so great rock bands have female drummers in their number. It’s just not the done thing. The world of rock is almost exclusively a male domain. Maybe the times they are a-changing?
Let’s deal with the first question first: minus Neil Peart, is this still Rush? I’d say, yes, although others may disagree. The Beatles without any one of the original members would not be the Beatles, but I’d say the Rolling Stones with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, with added Ronnie Wood, are the Rolling Stones. Led Zeppelin without John Bonham but with Jason Bonham? Hmm, I’m not so sure. The Who without Keith Moon and John Entwistle, the latter being the only formally trained musician, I’m going to say no.
Some of the above are unquestionably not the real thing without original members, some are. In truth, it’s just my opinion. I saw Dr Feelgood a few years ago, who have long had no original members and while they were excellent, I knew that without Wilko Johnson and Lee Brilleaux, this was a tribute act. And in the end, it didn’t matter. But there are bands I would not go to see because it would be pure fakery.
10cc tour with just Graham Gouldman from the original line-up. Without any doubt, this is not 10cc. Yes tour without Jon Anderson. No version of Yes without Jon Anderson is complete. It’s pretty clear, isn’t it? Well, no.
R.E.M. lost their drummer Bill Berry in 1997, but carried on with a variety of stand-ins and drum machines taking his place. Michael Stipe was asked about it: “Mike and Peter, as R.E.M., are we still R.E.M.? I guess a three-legged dog is still a dog. It just has to learn how to run differently.” I missed Bill Berry, who quit following illness, but I was so glad Mike Mills, Peter Bick and Stipe carried on for many more years.
Rush were such a tight trio, I thought their time had come and gone; a stellar legacy for sure, but no more tours and no new music. We don’t know if there will be any more of the latter, but Rush, with added Anika Nilles, are back and I am pleased to see and hear it. They remain a bucket list band for me and even without the great Neil Peart, I would love to lose even more of my hearing by going to a show.
Nilles has been chosen quite simply because she is a great drummer. Yet for all the new found equality in many aspects of our lives, women are still not well represented across the rock world. A quick glance across the ‘music played’ on a variety of oldie radio stations and it’s almost entirely male music, drummed by women drummers. There is no reason why this should be so.
See Cindy Blackman Santana – yes, the wife of Carlos – in action, or Meg White of the White Stripes, Sheila E (Prince) and even the late Karen Carpenter. Brilliant drummers every one. There is no reason why women cannot play drums, other than as a result of male prejudice.
“This is a man’s world,” argued James Brown, before quickly adding, “But it wouldn’t be nothing without a woman or a girl.” (Some of the other lyrics in that song are slightly troubling but let’s ignore that for now.) Written in 1966, sadly the first line, on it’s own, still rings true in so many places around the world, not least in the wacky world of rock and roll. But we know that women can rock. It’s just that many men, and not a few women, still cling on to a time when a woman’s place was not on stage or in a recording studio. Evolution to more enlightened times has taken place at a glacial speed but thanks to the likes of Rush the appearance of a woman – a woman! – in a rock and roll band is perhaps not as unusual as we thought it to be.
Rush, in my view, will still be Rush without Neil Peart and I feel strongly that Aneka Nilles will do justice to his fantastic legacy. Women can rock, they always could. Here she is with Jeff Beck.
