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 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 New Zealand, including Enhanced Experiences and Black Tickets, will be fully refunded.

Ticketmaster refunds:

Tickets booked online or over the phone with a credit card, will be refunded automatically. The refund process can take up to 5 days. Once processed, please allow 3-5 days for the funds to show on both your balance and statement.

If the credit card used to make this has changed, your original card has expired or is no longer valid (prepaid Visa and MasterCard included), you’ll need to contact the Ticketmaster Customer Service Team here requesting a refund with your bank account details. Please remember to include your order number in your request.

If your tickets were purchased from a Ticketmaster outlet, you’ll need to return to that outlet with the tickets and credit card used to make the booking.

Live Nation will work with the tour ticket agencies to ensure refunds are processed in a timely and orderly manner. We ask that fans remain patient while we respond to a large volume of requests.

Any updates will be published on Live Nation’s website, Facebook and Twitter.