Metallica
James Hetfield of Metallica performs during the Rock in Rio Music Festival in Rio de Janeiro Reuters

American heavy metal band Metallica has announced its show in Hong Kong for the first time, to be held in January, as part of the band's WorldWired Tour.

According to the South China Morning Post, the band will be performing at two Asian cities during the tour– the Hong Kong show at AsiaWorld-Expo on 20 January and a show in Seoul on 11 January.

In their official website, the band wrote:

Monday we told you how excited we are to hit the ground running in 2017 with tour dates in Asia and we're back today with a Metallica first – a show in Hong Kong! Thirty-five years and still beyond psyched to go to new frontiers, so this promises to be a very special night as we hit the stage at the AsiaWorld-Expo on January 20, 2017.

The post also had information about the tickets. The band announced that the tickets will be going on sale on Friday, 28 October and can be booked through HK Ticketing, K11 Select and Tom Lee Music Store.

The band is also scheduled to perform in Denmark, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

Metallica was formed in Los Angeles, California, in late 1981 and since then has released nine studio albums, four live albums, five extended plays, 26 music videos, and 37 singles.

Metallica is said to be influenced by early heavy metal and hard rock bands and artists Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Kiss and Led Zeppelin and early punk rock bands like Ramones, Sex Pistols, and the Misfits.

The announcement came as a huge surprise for the band's fans in Asia as Metallica is one of the most influential heavy metal bands of all time. It is also credited as one of the "big four" of thrash metal, along with Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth.