While speaking to reporters on Wednesday after the fund’s annual review of American economic policies, IMF (International Monetary Fund) chief Kristalina Georgieva said that “the current account deficit is too big, to make it very simple for the audience.” The U.S’s current national debt is $38 trillion and presents a growing risk to the global …

All five answers to the questions have something in common. Can you figure it out? Play Ken Jennings’s newest Kennections quiz here.

Rush will be back on the road in 2026, and the band has already been rehearsing for some time with their new touring drummer, Anika Nilles. In an interview with The Guardian, Geddy Lee recalled what it was like to play with her for the first time. Although they felt something was off during the first days, by the fifth day she had “nailed it.” Geddy Lee Talks about Anika Nilles learning Rush songs "It has to start there (reproducing Neil Peart's playing). They have to be true to the arrangements, because that's the expectation from the fans. But we don't place any restrictions on her. When she is comfortable and confident in the arrangements, she's free to enhance them with her own spirit." "And she will. But I don't think we knew when she arrived what our expectations were, to be honest. When we started playing with her, something felt wrong. And I was, of course: 'This is not gonna work.' Those seemingly impossible fills were not a problem for her at all. What was difficult was understanding a relationship between snare, bass drum and hi-hat that's different from her training." He continued: "The first four days were up and down, and she was nervous, and she was jetlagged, and we were unsure. We had a little chat before the last day — 'I don't know, Al, is this going to work?' We talked about all the things we liked about her, and what a work ethic she has, nice person and deep knowledge, deep technical ability. So there's a lot of positives. So let's not be hasty. And we went into that last day and she just fucking nailed it," Geddy Lee said. The guitarist Alex Lifeson also talked about her, saying: "She suddenly understood what we were talking about that whole week, not about the technical aspect, but about the stuff in between the big stuff, that Neil was just so amazing at and those internal dynamics that only another drummer can understand, and it clicked in her," he said. Rush 2026 tour dates June 7 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum 9 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum 11 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum 13 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum 18 – Mexico City, MX – Palacio de los Deportes 24 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena 26 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena 28 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena 30 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena July 16 – Chicago, IL – United Center 18 – Chicago, IL – United Center 20 – Chicago, IL – United Center 22 – Chicago, IL – United Center 28 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden 30 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden August 1 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden 3 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden 7 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena 9 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena 11 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena 13 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena 21 – Philadelphia, PA – Xfinity Mobile Arena 26 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena September 2 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre 12 – Boston, MA – TD Garden 17 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Arena 19 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Arena 23 – San Antonio, TX – Frost Bank Center October 5 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena 10 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena 15 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center 25 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena 30 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena November 5 – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Live 9 – Tampa, FL – Benchmark Arena 20 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center 25 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena December 1 – Glendale, AZ – Desert Diamond Arena 10 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place 15 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efR6bvqX5yw&t=283s The post Geddy Lee Talks about Anika Nilles learning Rush songs appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.

Since the legendary American singer and songwriter Neil Sedaka passed away last Friday, many Rock stars shared a message as a tribute to the influential musician. The official statement said: "Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka." "A true rock and roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly, at least to those of us who were lucky enough to know him, an incredible human being who will be deeply missed." Rock stars' reaction to Neil Sedaka's death Mickey Dolenz (The Monkees) "I was saddened to hear of Neil Sedaka's passing. A rare talent, he gave us many hits and co-wrote “When Love Comes Knocking at Your Door” with Carole Bayer Sager, beloved by Monkees fans too. My thoughts are with his family and all who cherished his music," he said. Vernon Reid (Living Colour) "Neil Sedaka - Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,  the re-recording of an bouncy classic Pop hit as a jazz inflected ballad was am inspired hat trick R.I.P," he said. Paul Stanley (Kiss) "RIP Neil Sedaka. One of the Brill Building greats responsible for virtually everything on the radio before the “British Invasion”. Goffin & King, Mann & Weil, Barry & Greenwich, Sedaka & Greenfield. Hits later showed great songwriting never goes out of style," he said. Dave Davies (The Kinks) "I am totally shocked about Neil Sedaka dying. I wish condolences to all his family. It’s a very sad day," he said. Pat Boone "Hello, friends. I'm saddened by the news of Neil Sedaka's passing. We grew up in the business and stayed in touch through all the years. He was a guest on my SiriusXM show and we recently just met up at the diner down the street and reminisced like old friends do. Neil wrote and recorded so many great hit songs - his grand music legacy will live on forever," he said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtIibcNDQ6o&pp=ygULbmVpbCBzZWRha2E%3DThe post Rock stars reaction to Neil Sedaka’s death appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.

Alex Van Halen recently revealed that he is working with Toto’s Steve Lukather, one of Eddie’s closest friends, on a final Van Halen album, and that they are currently looking for a singer. The guitar, drums, and bass parts were recorded during the band’s final reunion and those tracks would be used as part of the follow-up to A Different Kind of Truth. In an interview with Rock of Nations, Sammy Hagar said he is disappointed that he and Michael Anthony were not invited to take part in the project. Sammy Hagar is disappointed for not being invited for Van Halen’s final album "No. We haven't been asked, number one. I can tell you, Mike and I, the day I walked in the studio, in 5150, to basically if you wanna call it an audition, but to meet the guys and to play music, we played for about eight hours at least. And we recorded everything. Everything that I ever did, and every time we made a record, we recorded hundreds of hours of jam and music, and then we'd cut 'em up, made songs," he continued. "That's the way we did it, right? So there's so much stuff from Mike and I and Ed and Al in the studio." "Like I said, just the initial day that I went in there, we got 'Summer Nights', we got 'Good Enough' and the beginnings of 'Get Up' from [the 1986 album) 5150 — three songs that came from that eight-hour jam. And I remember there was a blues thing we did, and I was making up lyrics." He continued: "There's so much stuff that Al could really choose from, if he wanted to include Mike and I. But, obviously, Al's got a reason, and he's Alex Van Halen, he can do whatever he wants. To me, it's an Alex Van Halen project, and it's not necessarily a Van Halen project, but I guess we'll see if it ever sees the light of day. But I'm disappointed that Mike and I wouldn't be invited. It's, like, what? Are you kidding me? We're still alive. We're out here doing it. We're playing those songs. We can still do it, you know?" Sammy Hagar said. The former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony also said he would have collaborated on the project if he had been asked. "If this is material that we jammed on or whatever, I'd have no problem coming in and singing or [playing bass] or whatever. It's all good there," he said (Transcribed by Ultimate Classic Rock). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOUKvli9so&t=1401s&pp=ygUWYWxleCB2YW4gaGFsZW4gZ2FzdMOjbw%3D%3DThe post Sammy Hagar is disappointed for not being invited for Van Halen’s final album appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.

Led by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, AC/DC showed the world in the 1970s that Rock and Roll was alive and well. They were part of an incredible generation of bands that gave the genre some of its greatest albums and influenced countless musicians in the decades that followed. Over the years, many of Angus and Malcolm’s peers have shared their thoughts on them and on AC/DC, including legendary Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. Joe Perry's opinion on AC/DC and Angus Young Joe Perry has been a huge fan of AC/DC ever since he listened to the band for the first time in the 1970s. During the past decades he went to see them play multiple times and even listed "Highway to Hell" as one of his favorite albums of all time. “When I need to wake up, I put on one of AC/DC’s first three albums. As a band, they took Rock ‘N’ Roll down to its essence without being too cheesy or over-the-top. Their theatrics are genuine." "The music has this honesty to it. You get the feeling they are just five guys in a room playing and getting off on it. That’s what a great record does,” he told Best Life Online in 2018. When it comes to AC/DC's later albums, his favorite is "Powerage" (1978), which was also mentioned by Keith Richards and Eddie Van Halen as one they loved. Perry said that this record captures the essence of Rock music and that Angus, of whom he is a big fan, was amazing on every guitar solo. “All the early records with Bon Scott are great. ‘Powerage’ is definitely one of my favourites. To me, it perfectly distilled everything that I like about rock’n’roll down to its essence. As a guitar player, obviously I’m going to be drawn in by the riffs and the way Angus just tore it up on every solo. But then you listen to Bon’s story-telling and that’s just wonderful.” He continued: “People will know Highway To Hell and Back In Black because they’re the albums with the big radio songs. But there’s so many great, great songs on Powerage. People who’re really into AC/DC understand that ‘Powerage’ is a classic album, a milestone. With each album that came out they were refining their basic sound. They weren’t trying to invent anything new. By the time they reached ‘Powerage’ the songs were just getting better and better,” he told Classic Rock in 2021. During the same conversation, the Aerosmith guitarist said that "Powerage" is in his vinyl collection and that although he listens to it all the time, it never loses its power. “It’s a brilliant record, just pure Rock’n’Roll. It will never age.” Some of the most famous tracks from that album are “Rock N’ Roll Damnation”, “Down Payment Blues”, “Riff Raff” and “Sin City”. The album reached the position number 26 on the United Kingdom charts. But it was number 133 on the United States Billboard 200. But they would really reach a huge audience with the release of their two most famous albums “Highway To Hell” (1979) and “Back In Black” (1980). AC/DC was Aerosmith's opening act in 1977 and Perry was "blown away" by them The brothers Malcolm and Angus Young have always been extremely grateful to Aerosmith for the support they gave AC/DC when the band was still trying to break into the American market. The Boston group took them under their wing and brought them on the road as their opening act and that tour was extremely important for their career. This support was the main reason why the brothers invited Steven Tyler to induct them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During his speech, the singer said that “AC/DC is the ultimate middle finger aimed at the establishment”. AC/DC went on the road with them in 1977 during their "Draw the Line" tour. Joe Perry recalled that he was “blown away” seeing them play live and has stated that they are his favorite opening act Aerosmith ever had. "AC/DC, without a doubt (was the best). Guns N’ Roses was really good, but they were kind of, I could see them as being more of an extension of the kind of style of Rock and Roll that we were doing. But AC/DC had taken it and boiled it down to the real basic, no-questions-asked hard rock. When Bon Scott got out there and started singing, you believed every word he said." He continued: "And they were a bunch of little guys from Australia who had this incredibly huge sound. You just knew that they were going to be at the top of the charts in a really short time. I used to go down and watch them play all the time. I mean, they were incredible. And I still think they’re one of the best bands in the world," he told Examiner in 2014. Besides Angus and Malcolm, the band was also formed back then by Cliff Williams, Phil Rudd and Bon Scott. Joe Perry wishes Aerosmith had written more songs like AC/DC When speaking with Rick Beato, Joe Perry said he wished Aerosmith could have written more songs like AC/DC. But according to him, the band’s songwriting style prevented them from doing so. “I love AC/DC. I wish we could write a shitload more songs like that. But the band takes its own course,” he said in 2025. Although he enjoyed seeing Axl Rose front the band, he believes the band needs Johnson on vocals. However, in his opinion, the real frontman of AC/DC is Angus Young. He has always been impressed by how the guitarist kept performing with the same stamina throughout his entire career. Interestingly, one of the first major concerts Metallica’s James Hetfield ever attended was Aerosmith, with AC/DC as the opening act. The show took place at the Long Beach Arena in California. https://youtu.be/U5R5L72yQgQ?si=2VoATWjmLZGdTHH3&t=27 Like Aerosmith, AC/DC's music has always been rooted in Blues, but the two bands took different directions in their careers. The American group reinvented its sound and the Australian group maintained the same style over the decades.The post Joe Perry’s opinion on AC/DC and Angus Young appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.