Doctor Orders Metallica Frontman Not To Sing

(hennemusic) Metallica have postponed the second of four shows at the new Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark on February 5 after frontman James Hetfield was put on vocal rest by doctor's due to an illness.

Hetfield struggled to perform during the group's opening night concert at the venue on February 3, asking fans if Metallica should complete or abandon the show entirely. "It's not fair to you guys, man," Hetfield told the crowd. "You paid a lot of good money to come and see your favorite band, and we don't sound good. I'm gonna leave it up to you, man. Would you rather hear us sound better another time? I wanna stop. What do you say?"

After the crowd said they wanted the band to continue, Hetfield said, "Okay. You asked for it. All right. I'll keep doing my best, all right? I appreciate you guys so much, man. Thank you for your support."

Metallica updated fans on Hetfield's status on February 4 with news that they needed to pull the plug on the February 5 concert. "We're very disappointed to have to share with you that unfortunately as Saturday has progressed, James' health, and specifically his throat, is not improving and he is under strict doctor's orders to not sing one single note," said the band. "So sadly we have to report that we will be postponing tomorrow's show at the Royal Arena until September 2, 2017.

"Our week here in Copenhagen is something we have had circled on the calendar for a very long time as a special event not only for our friends in Denmark but also for us and we were really looking forward to celebrating the new arena with you. To those of you who were there yesterday, we appreciate you encouraging us to carry on . . . that meant the world to us! We all felt really bummed that we were unable to give you the maximum Metallica experience; it was one of the most challenging shows we've ever played, but your love and support got us through."

"We know that many of you made travel plans to spend the weekend with us and we are very sorry for any inconvenience this will cause," Metallica continued. "We hope that you will be able to come back to Copenhagen in September and we'll do our best to make it up to everyone with something unique for you at the make-up gig, along with a kick ass show of course! And to Aphyxion, the band who won your votes to be Sunday's opening act, we hope you're available in September.

"Thank you again for all the support and care you've always shown us in Denmark. We will be back!" Read more and check out video from the show here.

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