The Japanese heavy metal band Babymetal is heading to the United States and Europe for a series of concerts this year.
The upcoming world tour will be the group's first live performance since guitarist Mikio Fujioka passed away in January.
Going International
On Tuesday, Feb. 27, the J-pop band added dates and venues for their upcoming concerts in the United States and Europe. The tour will kickoff in Kansas City on May 8.
They will also perform in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Columbus. The band will then head to Europe to perform in different venues in Denmark, Austria, and the Netherlands.
They will end the tour with a performance at the Download Festival in the United Kingdom on June 9. Marilyn Manson, Bullet For My Valentine, Avenged Sevenfold, Guns 'N Roses, and Ozzy Osbourne will headline the said music festival.
The group released their most recent album, Metal Resistance, back in 2016.
Here are the Babymetal 2018 World Tour:
May 8 - Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri
May 10 - ACL Live at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas
May 11 - House of Blues in Dallas, Texas
May 13 - Revention Music Center in Houston, Texas
May 15 - Tabernacle Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia
May 17 - The Fillmore in Charlotte, North Carolina
May 18 - Marathon Music Works in Nashville, Tennessee
May 20 - Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio
June 1 - Rock am Ring in Nürburg, Denmark
June 2 - Rock im Park in Nuremberg, Denmark
June 4 - Music Hall Innsbruck in Innsbruck, Austria
June 5 - TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, Netherlands
June 9 - Download Festival 2018 in Derby, United Kingdom
Babymetal Guitarist Passes Away
In January, the heavy metal band announced through its social media pages that their guitarist, Mikio Fujioka, passed away. The guitarist, who has been touring with the group since 2013, sustained serious injuries after falling from an observation deck on Dec. 30.
He passed away On Jan. 5.
The "Little" Guitar Kami of #BABYMETAL 's #Kamiband has passed away in the METAL GALAXIES. We hope that he is now with his GUITAR MASTER A.Holdsworth and enjoying an epic guitar session with him. We are the one
Together
We're the only one
You are the one
Forever#RIP #THEONE pic.twitter.com/NMUg3mhmes— BABYMETAL (@BABYMETAL_JAPAN) January 9, 2018
Fujioka, known to fans by his nickname "Ko-Gami" or "The Little God," was 36 years old when he died.
