Yesterday morning, the King Diamond Facebook page offered some welcome news: after more than a year away from performing (besides a brief appearance with Metallica during their anniversary festivities last month) while recovering from triple-bypass heart surgery, the renowned Danish vocalist is finally ready to return to the stage.

Normally when I read about upcoming tours and festivals, I get pretty grumpy about the fact that they are so far away from here and it just depresses me.  But in this case, I don’t care where the shows are located, I’m just happy to hear the King is healthy and able to get back out on the road again.

Read the full announcement, including video updates, after the jump.

Hail to all of you.

FINALLY.

We can now officially announce King Diamond’s return to the stage. We will be headlining the Rock Stage at Sweden Rock Festival on Saturday, June 9, 2012.

Please check out the links below for more info.

http://www.swedenrock.com/index.cfm? pg=1&lg=2

We will also be headlining the Main Stage 2 at Hellfest in France on Friday, June 15, 2012.

Please see link below for more info:

http://www.hellfest.fr/

Can’t wait to see you there

Stay Heavy,

King Diamond.