The group was set to embark Down Under throughout Oct
Metallica has been forced to cancel their upcoming eight city tour of Australia and New Zealand due to frontman James Hetfield entering rehab. The band made the surprising announcement on Friday (Sept 27th), revealing they do plan to reschedule the shows in the future.
“We are truly sorry to inform our fans and friends that we must postpone our upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand,” the group shares in a letter titled “A Note from Lars, Kirk, and Rob.”
“As most of you probably know, our brother James has been struggling with addiction on and off for many years. He has now, unfortunately, had to re-enter a treatment program to work on his recovery again.
“We fully intend to make our way to your part of the world as soon as health and schedule permit. We’ll let you know as soon as we can. Once again, we are devastated that we have inconvenienced so many of you, especially our most loyal fans who often travel great distances to experience our shows. We appreciate your understanding and support for James and, as always, thank you for being a part of our Metallica family.”
All tickets purchased to the shows in Australia and New Zealand, including Enhanced Experiences and Black Tickets, will be fully refunded via Live Nation Australia and Live Nation New Zealand.
Hetfield’s sobriety was documented in the 2004 documentary, Some Kind of Monster. The revealing documentary nearly broke the band apart as they struggled to cope with family and work.
The group is celebrating Metallica and San Francisco Symphony: S&M² with a film release in theaters on October 9th via Trafalgar Releasing. Metallica and San Francisco Symphony reunite to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their original S&M (Symphony & Metallica) show with S&M², filmed at San Francisco’s new Chase Center.
