‘Megadeth’: The legendary band’s Self-titled final studio album Explodes onto the charts at #1 in the U.S.
- Rock Metal Machine
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
MEGADETH have good reason to celebrate. The Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum metal titans’ self-titled final studio album—released last week (January 23) to worldwide critical acclaim—has exploded onto the charts at #1 on the Billboard 200 in their native U.S. (highest previous position #2). This debut also marks the band’s 9th Billboard Top 200 album.
The band also claims the top spot in Australia (highest previous position #2) and Austria (highest previous position #8). Other top five spots include #2 in Finland (+ #1 physical), Sweden (+ #1 physical; highest previous position #9), and Belgium (highest previous position: #6); #3 in both the U.K. and Germany (highest previous position: #6); #4 in the Netherlands (highest previous position: #7); and #5 in both Italy (highest previous position: #15) and New Zealand (highest chart position ever). Debuts in additional territories are still being compiled at press time.
“After 40 years of delivering Megadeth music, playing shows around the world, I have nothing but gratitude at this moment. Finding out that our last Megadeth record is also our first #1 only further validates my will to go out on top,” says Dave Mustaine, vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and producer. “Thank you to my family, Teemu Mantasaari, James LoMenzo, and Dirk Verbueren, and Chris Rakestraw, all our fans for making this possible, without you Megadeth would not be as successful as we are. I’d also like to thank the people behind the scenes, our management, Danny Nozell, Justis Mustaine, and Steve Ross at CTK, and our label BLKIIBLK/Tradecraft.”
“This recording is a labour of love, and I hope you enjoy this as much as we do. See you on tour soon!” - Dave Mustaine
“Absolutely amazing news! Thank you and congrats to our entire extended Megadeth family!” - Teemu Mäntysaari
“I want to sincerely thank all our friends and fans who grabbed a copy, we’re over the moon!” - James LoMenzo
“It feels unbelievable to sit atop the charts with an album that’s uncompromisingly Megadeth. Huge thanks to all of you who support us- you made this happen! See you on tour!” - Dirk Verbeuren
“This moment represents the culmination of the trust Dave and the Megadeth team placed in our label, BLKIIBLK/Frontiers Label Group, to deliver these results,” says Jeff Stevenson, General Manager, Frontiers Label Group. “As our label and its owner, Serafino Perugino, celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2026, the timing felt right to proudly partner in this next chapter with a band that has shaped music history since its formation in 1983.”
Tom Lipsky, A&R USA, Frontiers Label Group, adds, “This achievement is a testament to the relationship that Dave Mustaine and Megadeth have built with fans over the course of their career.”
“The impact Megadeth has made on music has forever been cemented. And, now with this long overdue #1 all-genre album, the band is going out on top” says Danny Nozell, Megadeth’s manager and Founder/CEO of CTK Enterprises. “I am so proud of Justis Mustaine, Steve Ross, and the entire CTK team, our RESULTS GLOBAL marketing team, SRO PR, and our partners at BLKIIBLK/Frontiers Label Group and The Orchard for bringing this project to life.”
Leading up to the new album (out via DAVE MUSTAINE’s Tradecraft imprint in partnership with Frontiers Label Group’s new BLKIIBLK label), MEGADETH—Mustaine, Teemu Mäntysaari (Lead, Rhythm, and Acoustic Guitars), James LoMenzo (Bass Guitar) and Dirk Verbeuren (Drums)—have released four singles: “Puppet Parade,” “Let There Be Shred!”, “I Don’t Care,” and “Tipping Point.” MEGADETH also announced a very special bonus track from the album: a reimagined version of “Ride The Lightning,” which MUSTAINE co-wrote with Metallica’s James Hetfield, Cliff Burton, and Lars Ulrich and was the title track from the group’s 1984 album.
Up next for MEGADETH, they’ll kick off their farewell tour in North America with a cross-country headlining tour of Canada launching February 15 in Victoria, BC including stops in Calgary, Winnipeg, and Ottawa before wrapping March 6 in Quebec City, QC.
About Megadeth
MEGADETH are always and forever the point of no return for metal. It would be nearly impossible to conceive where heavy music and culture would’ve gone without the band founded, fronted, and fueled by vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and producer Dave Mustaine. The blast radius of their impact has only magnified since 1983. Thus far, they have sold 50 million records worldwide, received a GRAMMY® Award (with 12 additional nominations), generated billions of streams, notched nine Top 10 entries on the Billboard 200, and enthralled millions of diehard fans in arenas and stadiums across the globe. Their catalog spans indisputable classics such as the platinum Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? (cited at #8 on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time”), the platinum Rust In Peace, and double-platinum Countdown To Extinction, which captured #2 on the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, Dystopia notched a Top 3 debut and earned a GRAMMY® Award in the category of “Best Metal Performance” with its title track. They only upped the ferocity with The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! in 2022. It saw them return to #3, receive a “Best Metal Performance” GRAMMY® Award nomination for “We’ll Be Back,” and incite rave reviews. Their influence can be felt practically everywhere—whether it be Post Malone proudly sporting a tattoo of “So Far, So Good… So What!,” Homer Simpson’s iPod displaying their moniker during an episode, or Showtime’s smash hit series Billions and Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey utilizing MEGADETH in plot points. The band have delivered simultaneously relevant and timeless records in five decades now, setting the pace for the thrash renaissance of the eighties, tearing through the MTV years of the nineties with swagger and style, maintaining their stride in the post-Y2K 2000s, elevating to canonical heights in the social media and streaming era of the 2010s, and unassumingly harnessing the uncertainty and unease of the Post-Pandemic world into their boldest, biggest, and best work yet.
Along the way, MEGADETH extended their influence even further. During 2016, the band entered the spirits world with their very first signature beer À Tout Le Monde followed by Saison 13 in 2019. The brand asserted itself as a player in the beverage space and impressively moved over 15 million pints. Joining forces with Keystone in 2025, they ignite the next phase of Megadeth Beer on the biggest global platform yet.
Beyond his role as a music icon, Dave founded the visionary wine brand HOUSE OF MUSTAINE which uniquely blends music, culture, and fine winemaking. The brand launched with the 2013 Symphony Interrupted Cabernet Sauvignon which was inspired by Dave Mustaine’s groundbreaking collaboration with the San Diego Symphony.
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