Just a few short weeks after Metallica performed the historic S&M2 concert at the Chase Center in San Francisco, these metal icons are forced to postpone their Australia and New Zealand tour. The trek was scheduled to kick off next month with Slipknot as their special guests. Drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo have shared a message revealing frontman James Hetfield had to “re-enter a treatment program to work on his recovery again.”

They penned the following note via Metallica’s Facebook:

“A Note from Lars, Kirk, and Rob

We are truly sorry to inform our fans and friends that we must postpone our upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand.

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 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. More details on how to obtain your refund are below.

AUS: https://www.livenation.com.au/artist/metallica-tickets 

NZ: https://www.livenation.co.nz/artist/metallica-tickets

Enhanced Experience & Black Tickets:

https://www.cidentertainment.com/e…/metallica-australia-tour”

 

We wish James a healthy and safe recovery during this time.