Metallica's Black Album becomes 4th release in history to hit massive chart milestone

They follow in the footsteps of Pink Floyd, Journey and Bob Marley

Metallica in 1991
Author: Scott ColothanPublished 16th Jul 2024
Last updated 16th Jul 2024

Metallica’s blockbuster self-titled album ‘Metallica’ – aka ‘The Black Album’ – has become the fourth release in American chart history to spend 750 weeks on the Billboard chart.

Released in August 1991, ‘Metallica’ is the heavy metal titans’ most commercially successful album selling over 30 million copies worldwide, including 16 million in Metallica’s native US.

The album, which features songs including ‘Enter Sandman’, ‘Nothing Else Matters’, ‘The Unforgiven', 'Wherever I May Roam', and 'Sad But True', hit the 750-week landmark on the Billboard 200 on Monday (15th July).

Metallica’s 750-week tally is equivalent to 14 years and five months on the Billboard 200.

‘The Black Album’ follows in the footsteps of Pink Floyd's seminal 1973 record 'The Dark Side Of The Moon', which has amassed an astonishing 990 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart.

The only other two albums to surpass the 750-week milestone are Bob Marley’s posthumous 1984 greatest hits collection ‘Legend’ (843 weeks), and Journey’s 1988 best of record ‘Greatest Hits’ (813).

All three of those records were released before Metallica’s ‘The Black Album’, however.

Metallica celebrated the 30th anniversary of ‘The Black Album’ in 2021 with an expanded reissue and a covers record called ‘The Metallica Blacklist.’

James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo wrapped up the European leg of the M72 World Tour in Madrid on Sunday night.

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