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Cover of Metallica by Metallica
Cover: Metallica

Song · Metallica

“The Unforgiven” by Metallica

From the album Metallica (1991)

“The Unforgiven” by Metallica appears on 96 radio countdowns from 38 stations between 1991 and 2026. It was first released in 1991 on the album Metallica. Its best result is #5 on the KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #652 alternative song of all time and #407 of the '90s.

96countdowns
38stations
#5best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1991–2026years charted

Watch

Metallica: The Unforgiven (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Metallica). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"The Unforgiven" was the second single off Metallica's 1991 self-titled album, the one also called the Black Album, and it's the band tearing up its own ballad blueprint. On "Fade to Black," "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and "One," the verses had been the melodic part and the chorus the heavy one; Lars Ulrich explained that this time they swapped them, piling distorted weight on the verses and saving clean electric and acoustic guitars for a softer chorus.

James Hetfield, Ulrich and Kirk Hammett wrote it, a song about one person holding out against those trying to bring him to heel, and Bob Rock produced it with Hetfield and Ulrich. It opens on Ulrich's percussion, a dab of keyboards and a horn passage run backwards, reversed, Hetfield said, to hide its source, which he couldn't name himself. Two sequels followed, on Reload and Death Magnetic.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1997 70 WRCX Rock 103.5 Chicago, IL WRCX Top 103 Songs of 1997 103

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1991 63 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1991) 100
1994 349 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) 1000
1995 410 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) 1000
1996 243 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1998 234 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1998 91 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1998) 100
1999 55 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 223 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 47 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 848 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
1999 259 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
1999 101 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1999) 150
2000 86 DC101 DC101 Top 101 Rock Songs of the 90s 101
2000 96 103.3 The Edge 103.3 The Edge Top 103 New Rock Songs of the Millennium 103
2000 43 The Edge KEDJ Countdown 2000 (106 songs) 106
2001 40 KISW KISW Top 99 Rock Songs (2001) 99
2001 37 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 5 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2002 67 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2004 145 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2005 634 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2005 127 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 134 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2007 32 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2008 47 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2009 118 CFNY 102.1 The Edge The Top 200 Songs of the 90's According to 102.1 The Edge 200
2009 156 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 162 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of All-Time (2009) 200
2010 47 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of the 90's (September 2010) 200
2010 467 97.9 The Loop The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010) 500
2010 125 97.9 The Loop The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010) 500
2013 70 KBPI KBPI Top 200 Songs of All Time 200
2013 47 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 425 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2014 14 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2014 27 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 48 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 459 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2015 18 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2015 410 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2016 49 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2016 123 103.5 The Fox The Fox Memorial Day 500 (2016) 299
2016 123 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2017 139 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2017 100 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2018 414 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2018 138 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2019 466 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 53 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2019 217 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2019) 500
2019 103 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 300 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2020 64 DC101 Top DC101 of the 90's 101
2020 23 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2020 326 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2020 124 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2020 194 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2020) 500
2020 39 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2020 484 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 126 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2021 130 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2021 21 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2021 39 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2021 415 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2021 245 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2021 279 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2021) 500
2021 71 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2022 232 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 56 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 155 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 118 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 28 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2022 382 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 236 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2022 384 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 157 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2023 155 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 118 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2023 278 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 367 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2023 18 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 399 97.1 The Drive 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 26 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2023 172 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 223 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2023 142 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 48 94.1 WJJO WJJO Frequent Rocker Top 100 Songs of 2023 100
2024 121 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 499
2024 141 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2024) 500
2024 148 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) 400
2024 371 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) 400
2024 504 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 42 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 296 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 397 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) 500
2025 113 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 40 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 40 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) 400
2025 510 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 22 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 427 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2025) 498
2026 240 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500
2026 41 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500
2026 199 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500
2026 295 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2026) 500
2026 280 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500
2026 325 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026) 499

Also listed as: The Unforgiven II; The Unforgiven Ii.

Charting alongside it in 1997

Best songs of 1997 →
  1. 1Song 2Blur
  2. 2Walkin' On The SunSmash Mouth
  3. 3TubthumpingChumbawamba
  4. 4FlySugar Ray
  5. 5The Impression That I GetThe Mighty Mighty Bosstones
  6. 6Semi-Charmed LifeThird Eye Blind

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