Thrash metal legends Metallica are celebrating a historic milestone in the American Billboard 200. Here you can find out exactly what this achievement is!
Metallica have once again immortalised themselves in the history books, as their self-titled album from 1991 is the fourth studio release to achieve a historic chart record.
What Chart Success Are We Talking About?
Lovingly known as "The Black Album," this work has remained in the Billboard 200 for a total of 750 weeks. It follows Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Bob Marley and The Wailers' compilation album Legend (1984), and Journey's Greatest Hits (1988) as only the fourth album in history to achieve this longevity in the charts. This makes Metallica the youngest album to reach this milestone—and the second studio album to do so, since Bob Marley and Journey's entries are compilations.
For Metallica, this was their mainstream breakthrough thanks to hits like "Enter Sandman," "The Unforgiven," and "Nothing Else Matters," even though they had been favorites in the thrash metal community for years. The album sold 598,000 copies in its first week and stayed at the top of the charts for four consecutive weeks.
Since then, the album has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, with 17 million in the USA alone, and is considered one of the most influential albums in heavy metal history.
Following this mega success, more albums followed that also reached the top of the charts: Load (1996), Reload (1997), St. Anger (2003), Death Magnetic (2008), and Hardwired... To Self-Destruct (2016). Their latest album, 72 Seasons (2023), reached number 2.
To Highlight The Significance Of This Milestone:
750 weeks is approximately 14.38 years. Originally, the album reached number 1 on August 31, 1991, and today, almost 33 years later, it stands at number 178 in the Billboard 200.
This incredible achievement once again shows how timeless Metallica is and how many generations they have influenced with their music to this day.
In this spirit: Congratulations, Metallica!
