Nearly 45 years into their career, Metallica are still setting records. The iconic thrash band just achieved a couple of big milestones for two of their most popular albums: Master of Puppets and The Black Album.
According to Blabbermouth, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has certified Metallica’s self-titled fifth album from 1991—commonly referred to as The Black Album—as 20 times platinum for sales exceeding 20 million copies. It is also the band’s only album to be certified diamond, which it has done twice over.
Metallica’s third studio album, Master Of Puppets (1986), has also hit a big milestone, now being certified eight times platinum.
While Metallica has a deep catalogue with some killer hits—they’re even preparing to drop an extensive remastered box set version of their 1996 album Load—the band is far from winding down.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in a recent interview, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett opened up about the foreseeable future of Metallica and explained that they plan to start seriously working on new music in “at least another year.” He added: “I have 767 new ones for the next album. It is such a nightmare going through this stuff, too.”
“I’m the one responsible for all of it and I can’t do it…” Hammett then went on to share. “I don’t foresee us starting the next album for at least another year because we’re still finishing the 72 Seasons tour.”
“Once we fully finish this and go to all the outlying places like Asia and Australia and New Zealand, I think we’re gonna take a little bit of a break, not too much of one,” Hammett added, “and then we’re gonna get right back into it.”
Metallica is currently out on their M72 2025 tour featuring Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies, Limp Bizkit, and Ice Nine Kills as support. Find concert dates below.
Metallica 2025/26 World Tour Dates
5/28 Landover, MD Northwest Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
5/31 Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/3 Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/6 Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/8 Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/14 Houston, TX NRG Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/20 Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/22 Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
6/27 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High (w/ Limp Bizkit & Ice Nine Kills)
6/29 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High (w/ Pantera & Suicidal Tendencies)
7/5 Birmingham, England Villa Park
11/1 Perth, Australia Optus Stadium
11/5 Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval
11/8 Melbourne, Australia Marvel Stadium
11/12 Brisbane, Australia Suncorp Stadium
11/15 Sydney, Australia Accor Stadium
11/19 Auckland, New Zealand Eden Park
12/3 Sakhir, Bahrain Beyon Al Dana Amphitheatre
12/6 Abu Dhabi, UAE Yas Island – Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix
5/9 Athens, GR Olympic Stadium (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
5/13 Bucharest, RO Arena Națională (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
5/19 Chorzów, PL Stadion Śląski (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
5/22 Frankfurt, DE Deutsche Bank Park (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
5/24 Frankfurt, DE Deutsche Bank Park (w/ Pantera & Avatar)
5/27 Zurich, CH Stadion Letzigrund (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
5/30 Berlin, DE Olympiastadion (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/3 Bologna, IT Stadio Renato Dall’Ara (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/11 Budapest, HU Puskas Arena (w/ Pantera & Avatar)
6/13 Budapest, HU Puskas Arena (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/19 Dublin, IE Aviva Stadium (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/21 Dublin, IE Aviva Stadium (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/25 Glasgow, UK Hampden Park (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
6/28 Cardiff, UK Principality Stadium (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
7/3 London, UK Stadium (w/ Gojira & Knocked Loose)
7/5 London, UK Stadium (w/ Pantera & Avatar)
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