Artist · chart history
Megadeth
Band Los Angeles United States Formed 1983
Megadeth formed in 1983 in Los Angeles, United States. Megadeth has 75 chart appearances on 25 radio countdowns from 12 stations on RockLists, spanning 1990–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Symphony of Destruction”, which appears on 14 lists with a best position of #18. The station that charted Megadeth most often is KISW (Seattle-Tacoma, WA), with 42 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1997.
Megadeth are Dave Mustaine's band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983, and they play thrash metal like a chess match at breakneck speed: knotted, technical guitar work, dual leads that spiral and dive, rhythm sections at full gallop and lyrics that go after war, politics, religion and death. Alongside Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax they're one of the big four of American thrash.
The debut, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!, came out on Combat Records in 1985, and Capitol bought the contract; Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? in 1986 made them heroes of the metal underground. The late '80s brought turmoil, but the platinum records came anyway: So Far, So Good... So What!, Rust in Peace, and in 1992 Countdown to Extinction, with Marty Friedman's guitar, Nick Menza's drums and David Ellefson's bass tightening the attack into something leaner and catchier. "Symphony of Destruction" stomps like a marching army. Youthanasia, Cryptic Writings with "Trust" and "Almost Honest", and plenty more followed.
Mustaine has been the only constant through endless lineup changes. The band broke up in 2002 when he hurt his arm, came back in 2004 with The System Has Failed, and in 2017 finally won a Grammy, for "Dystopia". Their final album, Megadeth, arrived in 2026 and became their first to top the Billboard 200, with Mustaine announcing the band will disband when the tour is done.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Megadeth on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Symphony of Destruction | 14 | #18 | – | 1997 | |
| 2 | Peace Sells | 7 | #78 | – | – | |
| 3 | Trust | 5 | #3 | – | 1997 | |
| 4 | Foreclosure Of A Dream | 5 | #348 | – | – | |
| 5 | Almost Honest | 6 | #17 | – | 1997 | |
| 6 | Train of Consequences | 6 | #532 | – | – | |
| 7 | Sweating Bullets | 4 | #72 | – | – | |
| 8 | Angry Again | 5 | #622 | – | – | |
| 9 | Anarchy in the UK | 1 | #268 | – | – | |
| 10 | Holy Wars ... The Punishment Is Due | 2 | #592 | – | – | |
| 11 | Holy Wars | 1 | #312 | – | – | |
| 12 | Sympathy of Destruction | 1 | #319 | – | – | |
| 13 | No More Mr. Nice Guy | 1 | #351 | – | – | |
| 14 | Die Dead Enough | 1 | #49 | – | 2004 | |
| 15 | In My Darkest Hour | 1 | #509 | – | – | |
| 16 | 99 Ways to Die | 3 | #865 | – | – | |
| 17 | 502 | 1 | #679 | – | – | |
| 18 | A Tout Le Monde | 1 | #688 | – | – | |
| 19 | Washington Is Next | 1 | #77 | – | 2007 | |
| 20 | Use The Man | 1 | #85 | – | 1998 | |
| 21 | Moto Psycho | 1 | #91 | – | 2001 | |
| 22 | of Mice And Men | 1 | #351 | – | 2005 | |
| 23 | Dread and the Fugitive Mind | 1 | #98 | – | 2001 | |
| 24 | Kill the King | 1 | #98 | – | 2000 | |
| 25 | Soldier On | 1 | #93 | – | 2022 | |
| 26 | Wake Up Dead | 1 | #943 | – | – | |
| 27 | Reckoning Day | 1 | #980 | – | – | |
| 28 | Tipping Point | 1 | #97 | – | 2025 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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