The rumors are true, sadly, Metallica cannot play Sonic Temple festival, and they are also canceling their appearance at Louder Than Life Festival. The reason is frontman James Hetfield's ongoing battle with sobriety, and "critical recovery events" happening those weekends. Interestingly, there are a few dates before then that Metallica is not canceling. All other shows remain intact, just those two weekends that Het needs free in order to deal with his ongoing battle with alcohol addiction.
Hetfield just shared this statement on Metallica's social channels:
Dear Metallica Family,
It pains me to write this, but I have to let all of you know that I cannot make it to Sonic Temple in Columbus and Louder Than Life in Louisville this year. As part of my continuing effort to get and stay healthy, I have critical recovery events on those weekends that cannot be moved. I apologize to all of our fans who have bought tickets for these festivals. We are working with the festival promoters to provide for refunds or exchanges.
My intent with this statement is saying “I apologize” to each one of you. The reality is that I have not prioritized my health in the past year of touring and I now know that my mental health comes first. That might sound like a no-brainer for most of you but I didn’t want to let the Metallica team/family down and, I alone completely compromised myself.
Looking on the brighter side, my therapy is going well. It was absolutely necessary for me to look after my mental, physical, and spiritual health.
I want to stress that the band will play all other announced 2020 shows.
I am looking forward to getting back to playing and seeing all our great South American fans in April. And, of course, playing the Epicenter in Charlotte, Welcome To Rockville, in Daytona and Aftershock Festival in Sacramento. We will still play two unique sets at each of these festivals.
Beyond 2020, I am optimistic about the blessings I have been given and what the future brings. I appreciate all the great prayers and support from everyone since I went into rehab last September. Like the moth into the flame, being human in this career has its huge challenges and can be difficult. Your understanding helps the healing.
– James
It looks like replacements should be announced shortly, as earlier today, Red Hot Chili Peppers jumped the gun, announcing they would be headlining Sonic Temple along with Tool. No replacements for Louder Than Life have been confirmed yet.
Here is Metallica's current 2020 routing:
04/15 Santiago, CHL – Estadio Nacional [Tickets]
04/18 Buenos Aires, ARRG – Camp Argentino de Polo [Tickets]
04/21 Porto Alegre, BRA – Arena do Gremio [Tickets]
04/23 Curitiba, BRA – Estadio Couto Pereira [Tickets]
04/25 Sao Paulo, BRA – Estadio do Morumbi [Tickets]
04/27 Belo Horizonte, BRA – Estadio do Mineirao [Tickets]
05/01-03 Concord, NC – Epicenter Festival [Tickets]
05/08-10 Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome To Rockville [Tickets]
09/26 TBA – Global Citizen Festival
10/09-11 Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival [Tickets]
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