Guns N' Roses confirmed as W:O:A headliners; more bands announced

 

Today, Guns N’ Roses announced they will return to the road on a massive 2025 European and Middle East Tour, headlining stadiums and festivals throughout the summer with special guests Public Enemy, Rival Sons and Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter on select dates. Kicking off on 23rd May, the 24 date tour will see the LA legends perform in Saudi Arabia, Georgia, Lithuania and Luxembourg for the first time. The 2025 dates also see the powerhouse rock band return to familiar stages in Bulgaria, Serbia, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, UK, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Hungary and Austria. 

TICKETS: Guns N' Roses tickets will be available starting Tuesday, December 10 at 9am local time with the band’s Nightrain Presale. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on sale beginning Friday, December 13 at 9am local time on gunsnroses.com.

The final show of the tour will be at Wacken Open Air.

"It's a dream come true that Guns N'Roses are coming to Wacken," says W:O:A co-founder Holger Hübner in an interview with "The Bullhead", the official magazine of the Wacken Open Air which will be online soon. "Almost 40 years ago, Thomas and I heard the band for the first time in our friend Gösy's basement, we stood right in front of the stage as fans in Hanover and Bremen in the early 90s and now we can announce them at our own festival. It can't get any better than this." Co Founder Thomas Jensen is also enthusiastic: "We are proud to be able to unveil an absolute highlight with Guns N'Roses. For us, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Simply overwhelming."

From July 30th to August 2nd, 2025, the heavy metal festival will take place for the 34th time in Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein. General festival tickets are sold out. Fans who are still interested can sign up for the official waiting list.

Furthermore, Wacken Open Air has announced more bands for its 2025 edition.

Coming straight from the USA to the Holy Ground for the first time – the Country-Metal sensation Lakeview is making waves overseas. The duo, who have already proven their skills as songwriters for acts like Breaking Benjamin, are ready to bring cowboy boots to the Wacken mosh pit in style next year.

Brighton will be lending us one of the UK’s most sought-after bands: Lake Malice will make their debut on the Wacken stage. Their Alternative-Metal, enriched with elements from various subgenres, has been winning over fans of heavy music across Britain. Naturally, we had to bring them here too, right?

Forbidden, Lita Ford and Victory will take the legend factor on the Holy Ground to dizzying heights. Whether it’s classic Bay Area Thrash, veteran Hard Rockers from Hanover, or the ultimate shred goddess – no Metalhead can resist the star power these acts bring.

Speaking of legends, Dez Fafara will also be stepping into the ring. Devildriver is returning to Wacken after an eight-year break, armed to the teeth with groove, heaviness, and charisma that will wreak havoc on every neck muscle in sight.

In a completely different, yet equally challenging way, the Danish band Iotunn will take the stage. Rightly considered one of the rising stars of the Heavy Metal scene, they’ll bring their critically acclaimed album Kinship to Wacken.

Party Cannon, by contrast, takes an almost otherworldly approach: their name says it all. The Scots and their vibrant, colorful Deathgrind are nothing if not entertaining.

With Schandmaul and Walls of Jericho, we’ll see the return of two Wacken veterans. After their anniversary celebration was postponed, the medieval rockers of Schandmaul will finally join us to celebrate over 25 years of musical excellence.