Legacy

With over 25 million albums sold worldwide, ten top 40 albums (including 5 top 10 albums), 18 top 40 Mainstream Rock singles, and eight Grammy nominations, Megadeth remains one of the most successful heavy metal bands of all time. Of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands (Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer), Megadeth is second only to Metallica in sales and commercial success.

As an early pioneer of thrash metal, Megadeth helped pave the way for the burgeoning extreme metal movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and is often cited as an influence by later metal acts, including Pantera, Arch Enemy, Lamb of God, and In Flames.

Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? is considered a landmark in the history of thrash metal, with Allmusic calling the album "One of the most influential metal albums of its decade, and certainly one of the few truly definitive thrash albums", as well as "one of the best beginning-to-end metal albums ever". In May 2006 VH1 ranked "Peace Sells" #11 on the 40 Greatest Metal Songs of all time countdown. In addition to this, Rust In Peace was named the 3rd greatest thrash metal album of all time by Metal Hammer magazine. "Peace Sells...But Who's buying?" was placed 11th. In 2004, Guitar World magazine ranked Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman together at #19 on the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time. Megadeth are also ranked 69th on "VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" list.