Megadeth have landed their first-ever #1 album on the Billboard 200. Ironically that honor comes about via their final studio album, which arrived on January 23rd. That self-titled affair — their seventeenth full-length record overall — is set to serve as the closing chapter in the discography of the storied thrash metal band.
The group’s previous career high on that chart was the #2 spot with 1992’s “Countdown To Extinction“. Per Billboard, Megadeth‘s final bow shifted a whopping 73,000 equivalent album units in the United States amid its first week of eligibility on the charts.
Of that sum, 69,000 were attributed to pure album sales. Streaming equivalent album units comprised a total of 4,000 copies, equating to 4.23 million on-demand official streams. Physical sales accounted for the lion’s share with sales of CD, vinyl and cassette copies totaling 56,000, 22,000 of which were sold on vinyl.
While another feather in the cap of found Dave Mustaine and co., Billboard did note that the 73,000 unit total marks the lowest first week tally to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 since May of 2025. Megadeth‘s penultimate studio album, 2022’s “The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!“, opened at at #3 on the Billboard 200 with 48,000 equivalent album units.
Update: February 01st, 2026 10:34pm:
Members of the band have since commented on achieving this milestone, with vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine offering:
“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.”
Guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari, “Absolutely amazing news! Thank you and congrats to our entire extended Megadeth family!”
Bassist James LoMenzo, “I want to sincerely thank all our friends and fans who grabbed a copy, we’re over the moon!”
Drummer Dirk Verbeuren, “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!
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
