Hi, fellow music fans!

Five years after the death of Neil Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have announced that they will be getting back together for a Rush tour in 2026, including four Toronto dates in August.  

"We'll always have a part of the show that's a tribute to Neil," Lifeson said, adding: "It's going to be beautiful to celebrate him every single night.”

The iconic Rush drummer died in 2020 following a years-long battle with brain cancer. 

With the announcement of their tour, Lee and Lifeson shared that Anika Nilles would be joining them to complete their trio. 

Who is Anika Nilles, you ask? Here’s everything you need to know about the German drummer.

Neil Peart’s guide to Neil Peart’s drums

Back in 2014, Peart sat down with CBC Music and took us through his drum kit. It all starts with a standard four-piece setup and grows (and grows and grows) from there. He also went down the rabbit hole and talked about the 10 best Rush songs.

Meet the Vancouver artist who reimagined the Reading Rainbow theme

The beloved kids show Reading Rainbow relaunched this past weekend with a new host, and Vancouver-based artist Bukola had the honour of reimagining the iconic theme song.

"I still can't believe I get to say that I'm the singer of the new Reading Rainbow theme!" she wrote via email. "It's such an honour."

What is Vivek Shraya loving lately?

Vivek Shraya has just released a brand new album, New Models, and has a slew of tour dates coming up, so we caught up with her to find out what music and books she’s been loving lately.

2 Canadian pianists have made it to Stage 2 of the International Chopin Piano Competition

The 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition is underway in Warsaw right now, and Canadian pianists Kevin Chen and Eric Guo have made it through to Stage 2.

Considered the most prestigious piano competition in the world, the International Chopin Piano Competition takes place every five years — and the current reigning champ is Canada’s Bruce Liu. The nine finalists of this year’s competition will be announced on Oct. 16, with the winner announced on Oct. 20.

Find out the secret to Liu’s competition win from CBC Music’s 2021 interview with him, and read more about Chen and Guo, who have both been featured on our annual list of 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30: in 2013 and 2019, respectively.

Role Model’s Toronto Sally was Charlotte Cardin

That's our Sally! Role Model brought out Charlotte Cardin during his hit song Sally, When the Wine Runs Out at All Things Go Music Festival in Toronto last weekend.

These 4 regional radio shows are going national on CBC Music 

Starting this weekend, four local music radio shows are going to get a weekly national audience for the first time.

East Coast Music Hour, Toronto’s Big City, Small World, B.C.’s Vibin’ and Alberta’s Key of A will air on CBC Music from 8 p.m. to midnight local time (8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. NT) each week as of Oct. 12, giving the national radio audience a taste of the incredible music coming from the four regions.

Daniela Andrade's pondering on motherhood, and 4 more songs you need to hear this week

It's been six years since Daniela Andrade's EP Tamale was released, and now she's set to drop her debut album, Oda, introducing it with the lead single Cohete. Andrade’s voice is bright but melancholic, as she recounts being awoken by her dreams in the middle of the night. Cohete is one of this week’s songs you need to hear, along with releases from the Hello Crows, Jessy Lanza, Chris LaRocca, and a co-pro from Planet Giza, Kiefer and Braxton Cook. 

Find a moment of joy through Bollywood

Bollywood songs and dances have been the escapism of choice for people around the world for decades. With the state of the world these days, it feels like we need more moments of joy — and on this week’s episode of Frequencies, featuring music from Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal (pictured), Sababa 5 and more, you'll have plenty of opportunities to do that. 

The Beaches crash into No. 1 and break another record on the Top 20

Toronto band the Beaches have hit No. 1 on the Top 20 — again — with their latest single, Can I Call You in the Morning?. By doing so, their seemingly unstoppable force has broken a new Top 20 record: the Beaches have hit No. 1 more than any other artist with five straight singles, continuously making it to the top of the chart over the last three years. Entering the Top 20 this week is a new Punjabi pop hit by B.C. musician AP Dhillon, and a crooning western ballad from Ontario roots singer Cat Clyde.

Thanks so much for joining us for this issue of Listen Up! If you loved it, feel free to let us know at listenup@cbc.ca — and use the same email if you have questions or suggestions. Please share it with your friends, family and even enemies via cbc.ca/listenup.