Metallica plays tribute to Billie Joe Armstrong as Green Day cancels tour dates

Metallica filled in for Green Day at this weekend’s Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans and made it clear to fans that Billie Joe was in their thoughts as they dedicated two songs to the beleaguered front man during their performance. Leader singer James Hetfield dedicated the song ‘Battery’ to Billie Joe during their first set and paid tribute again during the encore, teasing fans with the opening chords of Green Day’s hit song ‘American Idiot,’ and saying to the crowd that ‘They’re getting it sorted out; hopefully they’ll get it fixed because the world needs them.”

Green Day was originally slated to headline the Voodoo show but had to cancel at the last minute when Billie Joe entered rehab last month to seek treatment for a substance abuse problem. The band had originally just cancelled a few upcoming promotional appearances but two days after missing their Voodoo performance the band announced that they would be cancelling all of their upcoming dates for 2012 and will be postponing their 2013 tour. Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt issued a statement saying; “Obviously, the timing for this isn’t ideal, but Billie Joe’s well-being is our main concern. We are happy to say that Billie Joe is doing well, and we want to thank all of you for the outpouring of support and well wishes that we have received, and we can’t wait to see you all again.”

In hopes of consoling disappointed fans the band has decided to push up the release of their upcoming album ¡Tre! from January 15^th to December 11^th. “We feel bad that we have to delay our tour, so to make up for it we want to give our fans the music earlier than we planned,” said drummer Tre Cool. “If we couldn’t be there to play for you live, the least we could do was give you the next best thing.”