02/06/2026
"There's a new No. 1 album on this week's Billboard charts, and it's by Megadeth. There's a new No. 1 song, and it's by Harry Styles. Those goofy rascals were long overdue to appear in the same paragraph, and now their day has come..."
Over on the albums chart, a … different artist debuts at No. 1: Megadeth, the veteran metal band that's been churning out rugged, raging metal since it formed all the way back in 1983. The group's new, self-titled album — widely reported as its swan song — has just become the first-ever Megadeth album to top the Billboard 200.
If you're thinking, "Wow, that took a while," you're not wrong. Megadeth's chart career began when its second album (Peace Sells… But Who's Buying?) debuted at No. 118 in October 1986. If you haven't heard it — whaddya mean you haven't heard it? — you'd be forgiven if you stopped reading this long enough to stream "Peace Sells." It rules.
Peace Sells… But Who's Buying? was the first of 23 Megadeth records to ultimately crack the Billboard 200, but until this week, the band had only climbed as high as No. 2, with 1992's Countdown to Extinction. The time it took for a Megadeth album to hit No. 1 since the band first landed on the chart: just a little more than 39 years.
It took a fair bit of timing, good fortune and hard work to get Megadeth to No. 1: This was a slow week for new music, a new documentary (Megadeth: Behind the Mask) just dropped and the new album was released with both a Target-exclusive CD edition and more than a dozen different vinyl versions. Still, No. 1 is No. 1, and now, Megadeth is a chart-topper forevermore. Topping the charts is Megadeth's business … and business is good!
TOP ALBUMS
Megadeth's reign at No. 1 is almost certain to be one-and-done; virtually all of its numbers are derived from sales, which don't carry over from week to week. Plus, next week's charts are likely to be heavily influenced by Sunday's Grammy Awards, which ought to provide a boost to the night's biggest winners (Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, Olivia Dean) and flashiest performers (Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Dean again)
These wildly different artists both reach the top of the pop charts this week.
