The Dead Weather have announced a special New York performance at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg on Nov. 17th. Members of The Vault, the subscription service of Jack White's Third Man Records, can purchase advance tickets starting Tuesday, Nov. 10 at noon, with any remaining tickets being released to the general public on Friday, Nov. 13 at noon.

White's latest band, which also counts Alison Mosshart, Dean Fertita and Jack Lawrence, just wrapped a successful run through Europe. The Dead Weather's touring schedule has counted some unique performances, including three surprise appearances at the limited-time Third Man Records pop-up shops in New York City, L.A. and London .

With their three-week tour supporting U2 in North American stadiums behind them, Muse are finally ready to tackle enormous venues as a headlining act. For the band's new tour of Europe in support of 'The Resistance,' the trio -- bassist Chris Wolstenholme, singer Matt Bellamy and drummer Dom Howard -- will mostly fill arenas, although it says its live show is a stadium-worthy spectacle.

"We've got the biggest production we've ever gone out with," Wolstenholme told the Birmingham Mail in advance of its tour opener Tuesday at the city's National Indoor Arena. "We've spent a lot of time and money putting the production together. It's our most ambitious stage show ever. It's on the edge of being too big for arenas. It would work really well in a stadium."

Bono and Wyclef Jean will both be honored this month with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights' Ripple of Hope Award. Presented at the Center's annual dinner on Nov. 18, the organization intends to recognize the bold leadership demonstrated by these honorees in the area of humanitarian issues.

"As champions of justice, Bono and Wyclef have brought the national spotlight to human rights violations, empowered local activists and transformed the lives of millions of people living in poverty from Port-Au-Prince to Darfur," Kerry Kennedy, founder of the RFK Center, said in a statement. "Their efforts evoke the spirit of my father and we are honored to recognize them."

Never one to mince words, former Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook has insulted yet another musician, this time calling Madonna is "horrible." If that's not enough, Hook, who's currently working with Freebass, also says that the Material Girl is "like a Black Widow spider."

"She tends to use people, then they shrivel up and disappear," the musician told Absolute Radio, recanting how he once met Madge on the night of her first British concert. It was held at the notorious Manchester nightclub the Hacienda, which Hook, 53, helped run.

Look for the Stooges to record several old songs that were only performed live now that Iggy Pop and onetime guitarist James Williamson have reconciled. According to Iggy, he and Williamson -- who was a principal contributor to the group's 1973 album 'Raw Power' -- are itching to hit the studio to record the songs in advance of their 2010 tour plans.

"James Williamson is really hot to trot and there's a lot of old stuff that the Stooges failed to record," Iggy explained to BANG Showbiz. "We wrote a load of songs that we only ever played live, so I'm looking forward to doing some studio recordings."

Paul Preminger, former drummer for the notorious Vancouver-based garage punk band the Smugglers, died of an apparent heart attack on October 27. Preminger -- who co-founded the band in the late 1980's, but left to become a chef in 1992 -- played on the band's early singles, debut EP and compilation tracks.

Smugglers vocalist Grant Lawrence, who doubles as a CBC Radio 3 host, described the kitman in a news interview with Vancouver's Georgia Straight. "[Paul was] a guy that hit the drums hard, and who lived hard," Lawrence said. "He was a Joe Pesci, bulldog kind of a guy, but very smart, very funny and very kind. He was one of those guys who'd sit on the couch and answer every single question on Jeopardy!, and you'd be like, 'What the f---? How does this Bukowski-esque character know all this?'"

Let the debate begin. Morrissey is the greatest lyricist in the history of British popular music, according to a new book by Scottish academic Dr. Gavin Hopps. In 'Morrissey: The Pageant of His Bleeding Heart,' Hopps compares the singer to literary giants like Philip Larkin and Oscar Wilde.

Moz, who gave us all such lyrical classics as 'Bengali in Platforms,' 'Barbarism Begins at Home,' 'Shoplifters of the World Unite and Take Over' and countless others with and without the Smiths, is heralded for his use of different writing techniques.