•
Slayer front-man/bassist
Tom Araya underwent back surgery. •
Emperor Magus Caligula, B-Force and Dominator all quit
Dark Funeral. •
Rush was inducted into the
Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. •
Mayhem Festival 2010 toured through North America from July through August. The third annual tour was co-headlined by
Korn and
Rob Zombie. • Guitarist
Jani Stefanovic quit
Solution .45. •
Scorpions announced that they will retire after touring in support of final album
Sting in the Tail. •
AC/DC headlined
Download Festival, marking their return to
Donington for the first time in 19 years, since 1991's
Monsters of Rock.
Rage Against the Machine and
Aerosmith also headlined. •
In Flames founding member
Jesper Strömblad quit the band in February after 17 years due to personal problems. • Original
Megadeth bassist
Dave Ellefson rejoined the band after departing in 2002. •
Mike Portnoy of
Dream Theater joined
Avenged Sevenfold after the death of
The Rev to record their fifth studio album,
Nightmare. The results of The Rev's toxicology reports were released in June 2010, which revealed the cause of death as an accidental overdose from prescription drugs. • Belarusian officials banned
Rammstein from the country due to their "violence, masochism, homosexuality and other abnormalities". • US
death metal band
The Famine's studio burnt down, along with their gear and recorded material for what would be their 2011 album,
The Architects of Guilt. •
Behemoth front-man
Adam "Nergal" Darski went to court over a Bible ripping incident in 2007, and was found not guilty on the basis that "the defendant's behaviour wasn't recognised as a crime." • Richard Rietdijk, a keyboardist for the band
Textures, left the band as he wanted to pursue other musical interests. •
Type O Negative front-man
Peter Steele died at age 48 on April 14, 2010. •
The Human Abstract replaced former lead singer Nathan Ells with Travis Richter (
The Color of Violence, ex-
From First to Last) and founding guitarist A. J. Minette returned. •
Judas Priest won the 2010
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance of "Dissident Aggressor." •
Debauchery front-man Thomas "The Bloodbeast" Gurrath was fired from his job as a philosophy trainee teacher at a high school in Stuttgart, Germany, for being in a
death metal band. •
Anthrax reunited with former singer
Joey Belladonna after his previous departure in 2007. • The first ever Sri Lankan metal documentary,
Arise - The Sri Lankan Metal Music Documentary, was officially screened on 15 May 2010 at Alliance Française de Colombo, Sri Lanka. •
Ronnie James Dio died of stomach cancer at the age of 67 on May 16, 2010. • Bay Area Metal legend
Debbie Abono died of cancer at age 80, also on May 16, 2010. •
Ozzfest returned with bands such as
Ozzy Osbourne,
Mötley Crüe,
Rob Halford and
DevilDriver on the bill. • Former bassist Noah Martin rejoined
Arsis. • The
Westboro Baptist Church planned to picket the
Ronnie James Dio Memorial Service at The Hall of Liberty in
Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. •
Slipknot bassist
Paul Gray died at age 38 on May, 25, 2010. •
Ratt were forced to cancel their European tour due to
Stephen Pearcy having to undergo emergency hernia surgery. • On June 16, "The Big Four of Thrash Metal",
Anthrax,
Megadeth,
Slayer and
Metallica, played together for the first time at the Sonisphere Festival at Bemowo Airport in Warsaw, Poland. • The second event of
Heavy MTL was held in
Montreal on July 24 and 25, with bands such as
Slayer,
Testament,
Megadeth,
Halford,
Alice Cooper, and
Avenged Sevenfold. •
Early Graves vocalist Makh Daniels died in an automobile accident on August 1, 2010.
The Funeral Pyre guitarist Justin Garcia fell asleep behind the wheel, and was taken with guitarist Tyler Jensen to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. •
Fear Factory members narrowly avoided a bus fire caused by the rear-wheel catching fire. Their trailer was left unscathed. •
Death of Desire vocalist Dawn Desirée was kidnapped by unknown members of a promotion agency, and guitarist Morbid was assaulted. • Reunited
Byzantine returned without Tony Rohrbough, and introduced Brian Henderson as their new lead-guitarist. •
Behemoth front-man
Adam "Nergal" Darski was hospitalized due to advanced stage leukemia.
Behemoth subsequently cancelled all remaining summer festivals, and their Russian, Baltic States, and US tour.
Adam "Nergal" Darski underwent a bone marrow transplant surgery. •
Acid Reign announced that producer Bill Metoyer will be re-mastering and re-issuing their albums. •
X Japan planned a North American tour after both
Otakon and
Lollapalooza, visiting Canada and the United States. • After 25 years,
Mike Portnoy leaves
Dream Theater on September 8, 2010. • Ari Nissilä, Toni Kansanoja, Kari Vähäkuopus, and Mikko Nevanlahti all leave
Catamenia on October 4, 2010. • 2000s supergroup
Murderdolls re-formed and release their 2nd and final studio album
Women and Children Last. •
Sweet Savage founding guitarist Trevor Fleming died on October 2, 2010. •
Gotthard singer Steve Lee died on October 5, 2010. • Guitarist Tommy Church left
The Autumn Offering on November 1, 2010. •
Queensrÿche survived a bomb attack in Iraq while playing to the American troops. • Armando Acosta, the ex-drummer of
Saint Vitus, died on November 25, 2010. •
King Diamond underwent a successful triple-bypass surgery on November 29, 2010. • Former
Dream Theater drummer
Mike Portnoy left
Avenged Sevenfold. ==Films==