Metallica's 30-Year-Old Song Finally Debuts On A Billboard Chart

Forbes

04-06-2025

Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' debuts on the Billboard Global 200 at No. 182, more than three decades ... More after its release, becoming the band's second career hit. SAN FRANCISCO, CA - AUGUST 12: (L-R) Robert Trujillo, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and James Hetfield of Metallica perform on Lands End stage during the 2017 Outside Lands Music And Arts Festival at Golden Gate Park on August 12, 2017 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
'Enter Sandman' has long reigned as one of Metallica's most successful songs. The group is responsible for some of the most commercially viable hard rock cuts of all time, and the classic smash may be the biggest of the bunch.
Released in 1991 from the outfit's self-titled blockbuster album, 'Enter Sandman' remains hugely popular to this day all around the world. It's not uncommon to see the track appear on the Billboard charts, but this week, the title manages to debut on a ranking more than 30 years after its initial release.
On this week's Billboard Global 200, 'Enter Sandman' finally arrives. Metallica's cut starts at No. 182 on the list of the most popular tracks throughout the globe. The ranking, introduced by Billboard five years ago, uses a methodology that blends both sales and streaming activity to show what people all around the planet are listening to — and this week, that includes Metallica.
The hard rock superheroes have now scored just two hits on the Billboard Global 200. The group first arrived on the tally in July 2022 with 'Master of Puppets.' The following frame, the track climbed to an all-time peak of No. 20.
So far, that cut stands as the band's only placement on the connected list, the Billboard Global Excl. U.S., which is compiled in the same manner, but with streams and sales from U.S. consumers removed.
'Enter Sandman' is a winner in the United States as well, and its continued success in America may be largely to thank for the track's arrival on the Billboard Global 200.
This frame, 'Enter Sandman' climbs one space on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, settling at lucky No. 13. That's the only ranking where the tune manages to ascend at the moment.
'Enter Sandman' is also a winner on the Hard Rock Streaming Songs and Hard Rock Digital Song Sales tallies, where it lives inside the top 10. On the former, the track holds steady at its all-time high of No. 3, while on the latter — which focuses on pure purchases — 'Enter Sandman' dips a single spot to No. 5.
The smash has now spent triple-digit frames on all three of those U.S.-based tallies as of this period.