Metallica postpones Australian tour as Hetfield enters rehab

[blueschica]

From Rolling Stone:

"Metallica have postponed their upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand so James Hetfield could return to rehab, the heavy metal legends announced Friday.

“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,” Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo said in a statement on the Metallica site."

I wish him well! I think touring must make it a struggle. I think he was smart to recognize a problem after 15 plus years of sobriety.

Edited September 28, 2019 by blueschica

[Entre_Perpetuo]

I wish him the best. A bit shocked he has to go back, thought he'd been good shape since St. Anger

[Babycat]

All the best, dude..!

[J2112YYZ]

I thought he had been sober for a long time now, so I'm surprised to hear this. It must be pretty serious if having a family and all the money in the world isn't getting him to stay away from the bottle.

[Laurabw]

Yes, I was shocked and saddened as well.

[Derek19]

I've seen, and heard about it. My best on James completely getting rid of the addiction this time to be fully recovered from it. Edited September 29, 2019 by Derek19

[Blue J]

I thought he had been sober for a long time now, so I'm surprised to hear this. It must be pretty serious if having a family and all the money in the world isn't getting him to stay away from the bottle.

 

I don’t mean any disrespect or for this to sound curt or defensive or anything- but addiction (and the safeguard against it) really doesn’t have anything to do with the other emotional or material comforts of one’s life. It is always present, regardless.

 

It really is just a matter of having the proper defense against the temptation. And complacency can truly be a killer.

 

I wish him well.

[snowdogged]

I thought he had been sober for a long time now, so I'm surprised to hear this. It must be pretty serious if having a family and all the money in the world isn't getting him to stay away from the bottle.

 

I don’t mean any disrespect or for this to sound curt or defensive or anything- but addiction (and the safeguard against it) really doesn’t have anything to do with the other emotional or material comforts of one’s life. It is always present, regardless.

 

It really is just a matter of having the proper defense against the temptation. And complacency can truly be a killer.

 

I wish him well.

All it takes is one moment of weakness. Addictions are things that never go away.

I wish him well. He seems like a pretty good guy.

[J2112YYZ]

I thought he had been sober for a long time now, so I'm surprised to hear this. It must be pretty serious if having a family and all the money in the world isn't getting him to stay away from the bottle.

 

I don’t mean any disrespect or for this to sound curt or defensive or anything- but addiction (and the safeguard against it) really doesn’t have anything to do with the other emotional or material comforts of one’s life. It is always present, regardless.

 

It really is just a matter of having the proper defense against the temptation. And complacency can truly be a killer.

 

I wish him well.

 

I wasn't trying to say that things like that can cure addiction. I was just trying to drive home the point that even someone who seemingly has everything can still fall to it. Kind of like Chris Cornell's suicide. Everything seems fine on the surface but what he was going through deep down was a whole different story.

[grep]

I thought he had been sober for a long time now, so I'm surprised to hear this. It must be pretty serious if having a family and all the money in the world isn't getting him to stay away from the bottle.

 

I don’t mean any disrespect or for this to sound curt or defensive or anything- but addiction (and the safeguard against it) really doesn’t have anything to do with the other emotional or material comforts of one’s life. It is always present, regardless.

 

It really is just a matter of having the proper defense against the temptation. And complacency can truly be a killer.

 

I wish him well.

 

I wasn't trying to say that things like that can cure addiction. I was just trying to drive home the point that even someone who seemingly has everything can still fall to it. Kind of like Chris Cornell's suicide. Everything seems fine on the surface but what he was going through deep down was a whole different story.

 

Robin Williams. RIP.

[thesweetscience]

I thought he had been sober for a long time now, so I'm surprised to hear this. It must be pretty serious if having a family and all the money in the world isn't getting him to stay away from the bottle.

Having to spend time with Lars night in and night out. That's whats doing it to him.

[BigMontanaSKY]

Saying this as a lifelong Metallica fan, and as a local to where the band started- I feel deep empathy for him. I know Metallica has not always been "cuddly" but their success was a product of great hard work, talent and connecting with audiences.

 

My personal guess is what's going on has a lot to do with some tragedies in the band's past. I don't want to get morbid or overly sad here. I wish Hetfield the best and that he is healthy again soon.

[librarian]

Healthy and Happy. That is my wish for you, James. However you find it. :sundog:

[OldRUSHfan]

I thought he had been sober for a long time now, so I'm surprised to hear this. It must be pretty serious if having a family and all the money in the world isn't getting him to stay away from the bottle.

Having to spend time with Lars night in and night out. That's whats doing it to him.

 

I've thought that once or twice...

[invisible airwave]

I thought he had been sober for a long time now, so I'm surprised to hear this. It must be pretty serious if having a family and all the money in the world isn't getting him to stay away from the bottle.

Having to spend time with Lars night in and night out. That's whats doing it to him.

 

And Lou Reed hypnotized him into believing he was a table.

 

AJA, get better soon.

Edited October 14, 2019 by invisible airwave

[J2112YYZ]

Metallica has announced they'll be doing some festivals in the US next year. So, I guess that's a sign everything is going well so far with James.

[grep]

Lars posted an update today(yesterday?). Basically saying that Jamez is doing ok with his recovery.

 

He then went on to say that they appreciate the love and support they have been getting from the fans.

 

I dunno Lars, I don't think the love and support is for the band. I suspect the fans are pulling in behind Jamez.

[J2112YYZ]

Lars posted an update today(yesterday?). Basically saying that Jamez is doing ok with his recovery.

 

He then went on to say that they appreciate the love and support they have been getting from the fans.

 

I dunno Lars, I don't think the love and support is for the band. I suspect the fans are pulling in behind Jamez.

 

James is family to the other band members. He's probably known Lars and Kirk longer than just about anyone else in his life. They've been through everything together over the last 35 years. Rob has been the bass player for the band longer than anybody else. The same certainly applies for him as well. Both their friendships and working relationship are affected by James substance abuse problem. There is a big part of them going through this with James and they too need the support of the fans. Not as much as James does but they still need it.

[blueschica]

Lars posted an update today(yesterday?). Basically saying that Jamez is doing ok with his recovery.

 

He then went on to say that they appreciate the love and support they have been getting from the fans.

 

I dunno Lars, I don't think the love and support is for the band. I suspect the fans are pulling in behind Jamez.

 

Yeah, often with Lars it's all about him. . . .

[treeduck]

He left it a bit late didn't he?