Swedish rockers The Hives are taking their music in a new direction for their next album - they've teamed up with rap producer Pharrell Williams. Williams, one half of production duo The Neptunes, is known for his work with rappers Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes and Snoop Dogg, but has also worked with pop stars Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.

The Cooler star Maria Bello is to replace Rachel Weisz in the third Mummy movie. The actress will play Brendan Fraser's wife Evelyn in the upcoming sequel. The blockbuster will also feature Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh and Luke Ford, who will play Fraser and Bello's grown-up son.

Seventeen year-old Texan, Dan Hunter is the 'poptronica' genius behind PlayRadioPlay (PRP), which has already hit one million plays on MySpace and opened for Fall Out Boy all in the space of a single year. The highly anticipated EP The Frequency will available in stores April 24 And one short month later fans can find him on tour with some of the biggest names in music on Warped Tour.

R.E.M. -- singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, and bassist Mike Mills -- will record their fourteenth studio album this Spring with Grammy Award-winning producer Jacknife Lee. Lee, most noted for his production on U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," has also produced albums by Snow Patrol, The Hives, and indie stalwarts Kasabian, Aqualung, and Bloc Party.

Timbaland is already acknowledged as one of music’s most inventive and distinctive creators. Yet the artist/producer’s forthcoming album, just his second solo album, promises to shock the world. Timbaland Presents Shock Value (Mosley Music Group/Blackground/Interscope) is set for release March 27. The first single, "Give It To Me," featuring Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado, launches February 1.

For Nightcrawler, his first new studio album in three years, rocker Pete Yorn explores, and brings full circle, the day-for-life metaphor (morning-day-night) which began with his RIAA gold-certified debut album, musicforthemorningafter, in 2001 and continued through 2003's Day I Forgot. "This new record is not so much for the night," says Pete, "but for a later period in my life. The perspective I have comes from having lived more and experienced more."

U2 has been named the "Greatest Live Band" currently performing, in a new poll. The Irish rockers beat Iggy Pop's reformed The Stooges, acclaimed Arcade Fire and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to top the Spin magazine poll.