MEGADETH Lands First-Ever No. 1 In U.S. With Final Album

According to Billboard, MEGADETH has secured its first-ever first No. 1 album in the U.S. with the band's final self-titled effort.

"Megadeth" debuted at the top of the chart after earning 73,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending January 29, according to Luminate. The bulk of that sum was driven by pure album sales (purchases of physical and digital copies of the album),totaling 69,000.

The follow-up to "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!", "Megadeth" was released via MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine's Tradecraft imprint on Frontiers Label Group's new BLKIIBLK label.

MEGADETH also claims the top spot in Australia (highest previous position No. 2) and Austria (highest previous position No. 8). Other top five spots include No. 2 in Finland (and No. 1 physical),Sweden (plus No. 1 physical; highest previous position No. 9),and Belgium (highest previous position: No. 6); No. 3 in both the U.K. and Germany (highest previous position No. 6); No. 4 in the Netherlands (highest previous position No. 7); and No. 5 in both Italy (highest previous position No. 15) and New Zealand (highest chart position ever). Debuts in additional territories are still being compiled at press time.

Mustaine says: "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 No. 1 only further validates my will to go out on top.

"Thank you to my family, Teemu Mäntysaari, James LoMenzo, 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!"

Mäntysaari states: "Absolutely amazing news! Thank you and congrats to our entire extended MEGADETH family!"

LoMenzo says: "I want to sincerely thank all our friends and fans who grabbed a copy, we're over the moon!"

Verbeuren adds: "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!"

Jeff Stevenson, general manager, Frontiers Label Group, comments: "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. 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."

Danny Nozell, MEGADETH's manager and founder/CEO of CTK Enterprises, says: "The impact MEGADETH has made on music has forever been cemented. And, now with this long overdue No. 1 all-genre album, the band is going out on top. 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."

"The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!", sold 48,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked MEGADETH's eighth top 10-charting album.

MEGADETH's previous top 10 entries on the Billboard 200 were "Countdown To Extinction" (No. 2, 1992),"Youthanasia" (No. 4, 1994),"Cryptic Writings" (No. 10, 1997),"United Abominations" (No. 8, 2007),"Endgame" (No. 9, 2009),"Super Collider" (No. 6, 2013) and "Dystopia" (No. 3, 2016).

On August 14, 2025, MEGADETH announced that its new LP would be the band's last. The Mustaine-led outfit will also embark on a farewell tour in 2026.

In a press release announcing MEGADETH's final album and farewell tour, Mustaine thanked fans for their commitment and love while celebrating the band's impact on the music world.

"There's so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional," Mustaine said. "Most of them don't get to go out on their own terms on top, and that's where I'm at in my life right now. I have traveled the world and have made millions upon millions of fans and the hardest part of all of this is saying goodbye to them."

He continued. "We can't wait for you to hear this album and see us on tour. If there was ever a perfect time for us to put out a new album, it's now. If there was ever a perfect time to tour the world, it's now. This is also a perfect time for us to tell you that it's our last studio album. We've made a lot of friends over the years and I hope to see all of you on our global farewell tour.

"Don't be mad, don't be sad, be happy for us all, come celebrate with me these next few years. We have done something together that's truly wonderful and will probably never happen again. We started a musical style, we started a revolution, we changed the guitar world and how it's played, and we changed the world. The bands I played in have influenced the world. I love you all for it. Thank you for everything."

For its final album, MEGADETH once again worked with Chris Rakestraw, a producer, mixer and engineer who previously worked on MEGADETH's last two LPs, the aforementioned "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" and 2016's "Dystopia".

Guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari joined MEGADETH more than two years ago. He stepped in as the replacement for Brazilian-born guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who announced in September 2023 that he would sit out the next leg of MEGADETH's "Crush The World" tour in order to stay home with his children back in Finland.

Mäntysaari was born in Tampere, Finland and began playing guitar at the age of 12. In 2004, he joined the band WINTERSUN. He has also been a member of SMACKBOUND since 2015.

Led by the growled vocals and razor-wire riffing of Mustaine, MEGADETH are one of the "Big Four" thrash titans. Shortly after being kicked out of METALLICA in 1983, Mustaine met bassist David Ellefson, and the pair bonded quickly, forming the core of MEGADETH. Drummer Gar Samuelson and guitarist Chris Poland later joined, and MEGADETH released their underground-hit debut "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!" in 1985. Its follow-up, "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?", solidified the band's status with sprawling yet tightly wound songs like the uneasy opener "Wake Up Dead" and the fiery title track.

"So Far, So Good... So What!", released in 1988, featured a new lineup as well as a thrashy cover of the SEX PISTOLS' "Anarchy In The U.K." and the anti-PMRC broadside "Hook In Mouth". In 1990 they released "Rust In Peace", with Nick Menza on drums and technical wizard Marty Friedman on guitar; songs such as "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Hangar 18" blended pummeling riffs and suspicion-fueled lyrics with a stadium-rock ambition that matched the era's metal-embracing tendencies.

"Countdown To Extinction", released in 1992, and "Youthanasia", released in 1994, continued the band's dominance of metal and emergence in rock's mainstream, with the latter album's "À Tout Le Monde" being a rare thrash ballad. After a brief breakup in the early 2000s, MEGADETH returned as a de facto Mustaine solo project with 2004's "The System Has Failed". Ellefson rejoined in 2010 prior to the album "Th1rt3en" and remained in the MEGADETH lineup until 2021, when he was fired.

In addition to Mustaine and Mäntysaari, MEGADETH's current lineup includes drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist James LoMenzo.

Photo credit: Ross Halfin