Metallica’s Black Album has set a new sales record after breaking through the 16million mark this month.
The 1991 record has been the best-selling title in the US since Neilsen SoundScan began recording music purchases in the same year.
Their statistics were first used to compile the Billboard 200 album chart on May 25, 1991. Exactly 23 years later their latest report added 3000 sales to the Black Album total, taking it to 16,002,000.
Metallica are followed in the all-time list by Shania Twain’s Come On Over, which has shifted over 15m copies. The Black Album has now been in the Billboard chart for 307 week – the longest run since SoundScan began and the sixth-longest since charts began in 1956.
James Hetfield and co are gearing up to record what will be their tenth studio project, expected next year. Before that they’ll headline the Sonisphere festival on July 4-6, performing a set requested by ticket-holders.
