Finalists for the 16th annual hennemusic Rock News Awards are chosen by readers: the Rock News Story Of The Year is determined by page views, while the Rock News Artist Of The Year is based on the combined total page views of the top 50 hennemusic rock news stories of the past twelve months.
The 2025 hennemusic Rock News Awards winners will be announced on Wednesday, December 24.
2025 Rock News Artist Of The Year – Top 10
10 – GUNS N’ ROSES
09 – DAVID LEE ROTH
08 – BILLY IDOL
07 – THE DOOBIE BROTHERS
06 – DAVID GILMOUR
05 – TRIUMPH
04 – JOHN FOGERTY
03 – PINK FLOYD
Rock News Artist of The Year No. 2 – METALLICA
Metallica was among the nominees in the Best Metal Performance category for the 2025 Grammy Awards in February, where “Screaming Suicide” from the band’s “72 Seasons” album was a finalist but lost out to Gojira, Marina Viotti & Victor Le Masne’s "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)."
Meanwhile, Metallica continued its ongoing M72 World Tour resumed with a leg of North American shows through the spring.
In June, the band released a series of remastered and expanded editions of its 1996 album, “Load”; launched with the lead single, “Until It Sleeps”, the band’s sixth studio record delivered the outfit its second straight US No. 1 and sold more than 5 million copies in the region.
Metallica rocked the Black Sabbath farewell show in Birmingham on July 5 with a set that mixed the legendary band’s classics with some of their own.
James Hetfield paid homage to the iconic UK group, telling the crowd: “Let's celebrate the band Black Sabbath, because without Sabbath, there would be no Metallica. Thank you boys for giving us a purpose in life. Thank you Black Sabbath."
Billed as “Back To The Beginning”, the event saw the farewell performances by both Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, where they were joined by a number of guest artists paying tribute to the influential heavy metal band.
Ozzy made global headlines when he passed away roughly two weeks following the farewell event.
November saw Metallica play shows across Australia, as well as the group’s first concert in New Zealand in 15 years when they performed in Auckland.
The band – who closed out the year with three shows in the Middle East – will return to action in 2026 with a European leg of the tour set to start in Athens, Greece in early May.
Pick up some Metallica at the band’s official Amazon store here.