Tough news for Jason Newsted and his fans. The singer-bassist and his eponymous band are dropping off the Gigantour trek for a week so that Jason can recover from a current bout with walking pneumonia.

The ex-Metallica musician and his band Newsted have been touring North America with Megadeth, Black Label Society, Device and Hellyeah on this summer's Gigantour, but Newsted will be forced to miss a week of dates in Canada on doctor's orders to rest up. Jason took to his Facebook page to apologize to his fans, but expressed hope that he'll be back for the remainder of the trek. His statement reads as follows:

Hey friends...I'd been feeling a bit under the weather while performing the most recent Gigantour shows so I went to the Dr. on my day off today & I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia!!! So under doctor's orders, I'm taking a week to rebuild...my apologies to our Canadian brothers & sisters in regions where we will not be appearing this week. I'm gonna work on keeping me alive so together we can keep the metal alive!!!! Cheers to all!! Jason

The Gigantour will be in Canada this entire week, before returning to the States for a July 30 show in Everett, Wash., and continuing on through an Aug. 11 show in Toronto. No specific date was given for Newsted's return. See the full list of dates here.

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