NUNO BETTENCOURT's 'Severe Knee Injury' Forces Cancelation Of EXTREME's Appearance At M3 ROCK FESTIVAL

EXTREME has canceled its appearance at this weekend's M3 Rock Festival after guitarist Nuno Bettencourt sustained a leg injury of some kind while taking part in a Rockers versus Average Joes basketball game aboard the Monsters Of Rock cruise on Tuesday, May 2. (Video of the incident can be seen below, courtesy of YouTube channel Jimmy Adcock).

The organizers of the M3 Rock Festival, which is scheduled to take place May 6 and May 7 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, have issued the following statement: "It breaks our heart to announce that due to Nuno's severe knee injury, EXTREME will be unable to perform at this year's M3 Rock Festival this weekend. Rest assured, Nuno is going to be ok and everyone attending the festival is going to have a great time. We are working diligently to book another stellar artist, and will make an announcement as soon as we have confirmation. We're looking forward to rocking out with you this weekend at Merriweather Post Pavilion."

EXTREME added in a separate statement: "We are seriously bummed out that we are unable to perform for everyone at the M3 Rock Festival as we've been looking forward to the festival for several months. We apologize for the inconvenience to fans attending the festival. We can't wait to come rock with you all on the Thicker Than Blood Tour this Summer."

Although Nuno played one show with EXTREME aboard Monsters Of Rock while seated, he and his bandmates apparently decided against doing the same thing at M3 Rock Festival.

EXTREME's new studio album, "Six", is due on June 9 via earMUSIC. The band will bring "Six"'s music to audiences across the globe on the "Thicker Than Blood" tour. The trek will see EXTREME visit North America from August 2 to August 29 and Australia from September 6 to September 13, where they will be joined by special guests LIVING COLOUR. EXTREME will also continue to bring the "Thicker Than Blood" tour to audiences in Japan from September 17 to September 26.

In addition to having its music appear in the Netflix juggernaut "Stranger Things", the Boston quartet has sold 10 million records, topped the Billboard Hot 100 at #1, packed major venues on multiple continents, and regularly average over five million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Bettencourt rose to rock superstardom as lead guitarist of the legendary rock band EXTREME. He has parlayed that success into an acclaimed career as a Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum artist, songwriter, and producer, working alongside industry titans such as Sir Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler, Kanye West, Robert Palmer, Rihanna, Janet Jackson and Perry Farrell, among others. Nuno is also the CEO and co-founder of Atlantis Entertainment, a full-service media and production company which creates and produces content through ventures integrating film and television, music, branded entertainment, commercials and digital content.

One of many career highlights for Nuno occurred when EXTREME performed, along with members of QUEEN, at Wembley Stadium at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992. Nuno was also invited to perform at the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize concert with Steven Tyler in 2014 as well as the 2015 Grammy Awards, side by side with Sir Paul McCartney, Rihanna and Kanye West, performing the No. 1 Billboard R&B/hip-hop song "FourFiveSeconds". As a producer and songwriter, Nuno has produced and performed on hit songs with such greats as Rihanna, Robert Palmer, Perry Ferrell and Janet Jackson, as well as producing a number of emerging pop artists and albums.