Megadeth tops the Billboard 200 chart

Megadeth has debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Ironically, their final studio album, which was released on January 23rd, is the reason for this award, as per theprp. The self-titled album, the band’s seventeenth full-length album overall, is slated to be the final chapter in their famous thrash metal career. Megadeth‘s final bow moved an incredible 73,000 equivalent album units in the US during its first week of chart eligibility, according to Billboard. The group’s previous career high on that chart was the #2 slot with 1992’s “Countdown To Extinction.”

Pure album sales accounted for 69,000 of that total. Streaming equivalent album units constituted a total of 4,000 copies, corresponding to 4.23 million on-demand official streams. Physical sales accounted for the lion’s share with sales of CD, LP and cassette copies totaling 56,000, 22,000 of which were sold on vinyl. While another feather in the head of found Dave Mustaine and co., Billboard did highlight that the 73,000 unit total marks the lowest first week count to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 since May of 2025. “The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!” (2022), Megadeth‘s penultimate studio album, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with 48,000 equivalent album sales.

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,. 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. – 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

We made history! Thank you to everyone who was a part of this album, especially our incredible fans! pic.twitter.com/4O9TJ2bXTP— Megadeth (@Megadeth) February 1, 2026