In some supremely disappointing news, Metallica's massive upcoming Australian/New Zealand tour with Slipknot throughout October has officially been called off.
The band announced the decision this morning, with frontman James Hetfield's struggles with addiction being the reason for the cancellation.
Read the official statement below:
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.
All tickets purchased for the shows will be refunded at the point of purchase, and there has not been any kind of statement released from Slipknot yet as to whether they will also need to delay an Oceanic tour, but with tickets being refunded it's likely that we'll have to wait to see them too.
Truly devastating start to the day, Maniacs - but hopefully they will return sooner rather than later!
