Metallica Cancels AU/NZ Tour, James Hetfield Enters Rehab

Sad news dropped last night from the Metallica crew, namely Lars, Kirk, and Rob published a note on their social media about being forced to cancel their upcoming Australia and New Zealand dates. James Hetfield has “been struggling with addiction on and off for many years” and sadly it’s caught up to him again. He has entered rehab and Metallica will be issuing refunds for those shows. Bummer. 😢

Read the full note below. The note goes on to thank fans for their understanding, and of course any fans that have been with the band for many years know that James Hetfield has gotten through the hard stuff once and is poised to do it again swiftly.

Here’s the post in its entirety.

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We are truly sorry to inform our fans and friends that we must postpone our upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand.
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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.
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All tickets purchased to the shows in Australia and New Zealand, including Enhanced Experiences and Black Tickets, will be fully refunded. Links to more details on how to obtain your refund are posted on Metallica.com.