Foo Fighters replace Pantera at Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park festivals

Foo Fighters have announced they will be headlining the Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park festivals later this summer, replacing Pantera.

Yesterday (January 24), organizers for the festivals announced that the newly reformed Pantera – which features Phil Anselmo, Rex Brown and Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante in place of the late Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul, respectively – had been axed from the bill following “intensive conversations”.

Their swift replacement was announced by Foo Fighters themselves via their official Instagram, with the band writing, “Germany – we’ll see you Friday, June 2nd at Rock Am Ring and Sunday, June 4th at Rock Im Park! Tickets on sale now!”

No further details were given regarding the band’s personnel, but the group’s appointment to the festival bills comes days after Foo Fighters announced they would continue without Taylor Hawkins, who suddenly passed away last year at the age of 50.

No official reason for Pantera’s axing has been given, though organizers for Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park – two of Europe’s biggest rock festivals – said the decision was made after consultation “with artists, our partners, and the festival fans”.

Several factors may have contributed to the swap. The band’s return itself has been highly divisive, with many Pantera fans questioning whether such a reunion should take place without legendary founding members Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul.

Another issue that may have informed the decision relates to the 2016 Dimebash tribute show, during which frontman Phil Anselmo displayed a Nazi salute and yelled “white power” at the crowd. At the time, Anselmo declined to apologize for the incident, though later said he was “1,000 percent apologetic to anyone that took offence to what I said, because you should have taken offence”.

Foo Fighters will join the two festival lineups alongside Rise Against, Limp Bizkit, Kings Of Leon, Tenacious D, Bring Me The Horizon, Machine Gun Kelly and more.