The US rock band Foo Fighters wants to take part in festivals in Germany for the first time since the death of their drummer.
The band will appear as one of the headliners at "Rock im Park" in Nuremberg and the twin festival "Rock am Ring" at the Nürburgring in the Eifel in early June, the organizer announced on Wednesday.
At the end of last year, the band announced that they wanted to continue making music together after drummer Taylor Hawkins died in March 2022.
Around 90,000 people came to the Nürburgring last year and around 70,000 to Nuremberg.
This means that "Rock am Ring" and "Rock im Park" are among the largest music festivals in Germany.
Hitler salute from Pantera singer
Most recently, the planned appearance of the heavy metal band Pantera at the festivals caused discussions and severe criticism.
The singer of the US band, Phil Anselmo, is said to have made racist remarks on a stage in 2016 and shown the Hitler salute.
A video of it made the rounds on the internet.
Anselmo later apologized for this.
There was additional criticism with regard to the venue: "Rock im Park" takes place in Nuremberg on the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds.
Now Pantera should not appear at the festivals after all.
"The band Pantera will not perform at Rock im Park and Rock am Ring 2023 as announced," said the organizers on Monday evening on Twitter in identical statements.
After intensive talks with artists, partners and festival fans, the decision was taken to remove the band from the program.
The group was also missing when the line-ups were announced on the homepages of the twin festivals in Nuremberg and at the Nürburgring in the Eifel region at the beginning of June.