Metallica to Fill in for Green Day at Voodoo Fest

Metallica will take over Green Day's headlining slot at New Orleans' Voodoo Music and Arts Experience later this month while Billie Joe Armstrong focuses on his rehab, festival organizers announced Friday. The Saturday night (October 27th) set will mark Metallica's first time playing Voodoo.

"Our good friends and fellow Bay Area residents Green Day had to unfortunately cancel their plans to be there, so we are more than happy to fill in for them in our own unique way," said drummer Lars Ulrich in a statement. We're hoping we can fill those very large shoes and do them proud." Guitarist Kirk Hammet told Fuse that Metallica got the call to step in a couple of days ago. "We discussed it between the four of us and we all said, 'Yeah.' It would be a great thing for us to do and it would also be great to help out Billie Joe because he's a friend of ours and we love Green Day. If we can help them out in any way possible, we're always happy to do it because we love those guys."

Photos: Green Day Through the Years

Green Day announced that Armstrong was entering rehab for substance abuse treatment in September, after the frontman's headline-making onstage tirade at Las Vegas' iHeart Radio Festival. "Canceling shows is something we rarely do," drummer Tré Cool said of the Voodoo fest cancellation. "We never want to let our fans down, and we are grateful for all of you being understanding during this time."

Green Day's fall tour is still slated for a November 26th launch in Seattle. Along with Metallica, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Jack White, Skrillex, the Avett Brothers, Justice and more are set to headline Voodoo from October 26th through 28th.