Metallica is back: Budapest to host two jaw-dropping shows in 2026
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After an eight-year break, Metallica is set to make a powerful return to Hungary in the summer of 2026. The legendary heavy metal band will perform two shows at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest as part of their ongoing M72 World Tour — and Budapest is among only a handful of European cities privileged to host them for two nights.
Metallica in Hungary
This upcoming Budapest concert will mark Metallica’s seventh performance in Hungary. Their last show was in April 2018, when they played to a sold-out crowd at the Budapest Arena.
11 September 1988 – MTK Stadium, Budapest. The first Metallica concert in Hungary, the opening stop of the …And Justice For All… world tour. Several songs were played live for the first time, including “Blackened,” “Eye of the Beholder,” “One,” and the title track. The opening act was the Hungarian band Pokolgép. Interestingly, the band members met a group of fans from Hódmezővásárhely at the Halászbástya and jokingly said that Jason (the bass guitarist) was resting at the hotel because he was hungover from European beer. James Hetfield, drunk, tried to buy the sword of one of the Hungarian kings at a museum.
One of their most legendary local appearances took place in 1993 at the Kisstadion, a show still remembered by longtime fans for its raw intensity and unforgettable energy. In 2010, the band headlined the Sziget Festival, performing Enter Sandman as a thunderstorm rolled over the city — a moment fans describe as “electrifying in every sense.”
About the band
Formed in 1981 in Los Angeles, Metallica has become one of the most influential and commercially successful bands in rock history. The group has released 11 studio albums, with their most recent, 72 Seasons, arriving in 2023. They’ve sold more than 125 million records worldwide and earned 10 Grammy Awards.
Current band members:
- James Hetfield – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Kirk Hammett – lead guitar
- Lars Ulrich – drums
- Robert Trujillo – bass (joined in 2003)
Some of their most iconic songs include Enter Sandman, Nothing Else Matters, One, The Unforgiven, The Day That Never Comes, and The Memory Remains.