Metallica has postponed its concerts in Australia and New Zealand from its next tour after vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield re-entered addiction rehabilitation treatment, the US band announced Friday.

"As most of you probably know, our brother James has been fighting addiction for many years. Unfortunately, he now had to re-enter a treatment program to work on his recovery again," said the other band members of heavy metal, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo , in a statement published on its official site and relayed in messages on the Twitter network.

"Once again, we are devastated to have bothered many of you, especially our most loyal fans who travel great distances to witness our shows," they said.

The band's first concert in Australia was scheduled to be held on October 17 in Perth, as part of its WorldWired tour. That section was due to end on November 2 in Auckland, New Zealand, after eight presentations.

The group said it plans to reschedule the tour dates "as soon as health and the calendar allow . " He also announced that they will reimburse the money for the tickets of the canceled concerts.

Metallica was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles and became one of the most successful heavy metal bands in the world, selling tens of millions of albums.

Hatefield had already had problems with substance and alcohol addictions , which were addressed in a 2004 documentary by the band called 'Some Kind of Monster'

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