METALLICA’S “BLACK ALBUM” HITS 16 MILLION IN SALES

metallicawithnewstead Metallica’s self-titled 1991 album has hit a new sales threshold. The album, which continues to be the best-selling release of the Nielsen SoundScan era, has become the first album to sell 16 million copies since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991, reports Keith Caulfield of Billboard.

Metallica — often referred to as The Black Album because of its stark cover art — sold another 3,000 copies in the week ending May 25th. That brings its cumulative total to 16,002,000.

SoundScan began tracking U.S. music sales in 1991. Its point-of-sale data was first used to compile the Billboard 200 albums chart on May 25th, 1991. Metallica marked the group’s first number one that year, when it debuted atop the list.

Metallica became the biggest-selling album of the SoundScan era in the week ending December 20th, 2009, when it overtook Shania Twain’s Come On Over. Twain’s album is currently in second place on the list, with 15.57 million.

Metallica and Come On Over are the only two albums that have sold more than 15 million copies in the SoundScan era. There have been 22 releases that have shifted at least 10 million. The most recently-released title to reach the 10 million plateau was Adele’s 2011 album 21. (Its sales now stand at 10.94 million.)

On the most current Billboard 200 chart, Metallica climbs from No. 155 to No. 144, marking its 307th week on the chart. That continues to be the longest chart run of any title since the tally began using SoundScan data.

Since the Billboard 200 became a regularly-published weekly chart in 1956, Metallica‘s run is the sixth-longest. (Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon has the most weeks on the chart, with 861.)

metallicablackalbum640

source: billboard.com

Share : facebooktwittergoogle plus
pinterest



25 Responses

Leave us a comment


  • Michael M on

    To the point of the article: that’s quite an impressive achievement and they deserve high regards for it.

    I wonder what % Metallica negotiated on the deal..?


  • Eric Heaton on

    IMO, the black album was there last good album…I agree that its overplayed tho….radio does that to a lot of artists…theres a reason why it’s overplayed and death magnetic and load or reload isnt…


    • Tom on

      YES, BECAUSE ROCK IS NO LONGER THE FORCE IT WAS IN 91. RADIO WOULDN’T PLAY A GREAT ROCK SONG FROM ANYONE NOWADAYS.


    • Chuck Rand on

      Debatable. Living in the Atlanta area where ther is a real dearth of rock radio outlets, KORN, Bullet for My Valentine, Godsmack, Buck Cherry, and Sabbath still receive intermittent attention. A little Crue slip in now and again, too.


  • D3 on

    I think this album is fantastic but, because several songs have been way overplayed on radio, XM/Sirius, sports venues, etc. I rarely listen to it anymore, even though it’s probably their best album (my personal favorite Metallica album is ‘Ride the Lightning’). What I do find myself listening to the most over the past several years are the two albums most fans didn’t care for after the ‘Black’ album and that is ‘Load’ and ‘Re-Load’. These two albums have actually aged quite well and I believe both now are really fantastic. I find it interesting that when these two were initially released I didn’t care for either of them but, now I think it’s two of their better ones. It’s amazing, how over time an album(s) can actually improve.


    • Evan on

      I actually loved the Black Album and really liked Load and Reload from the day any of the records were released. Never had a problem with 90s Metallica unlike some who still rip them apart after delivering the awesome Death Magnetic , just because hating Metallica is fashionable to these “tough” guys


  • Richman on

    I bought the cassette, CD and I bought the digital version on my Kindle so I’ve done my part. THE MOB RULES by SABBATH is my biggest buy. I purchased the Vinyl, tape, CD and digital box. That is 4.


  • Ryan B. on

    When I saw them on the Death Magnetic Tour, I realized just how big this album was because outside of something like the song Master of Puppets, everything off this album was what was getting people all jacked up and crazy while me and the “older folks” were losing our shit when we realized we were hearing the first strains of Hit the Lights or Fight Fire With Fire, you could literally see the energy in the arena go down because no one in there seemed to know what it was. Just a much younger crowd than I was expecting, and apparently Mom or Dad never let them listen to the first two albums.


    • Evan on

      I WOULDN’T CONSIDER THOSE WHO WERE EXPOSED TO “JUSTICE” AND BLACK ALBUM AS YOUNGER ANYMORE – GOT TO SAY SAME FOR LOAD AND RELOAD TOO


Leave a Reply