Metallica’s ‘Lux Æterna’ Launches at No. 1 on Hot Hard Rock Songs Chart

Metallica‘s “Lux Æterna” soars in at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart dated Dec. 10.

Following its Nov. 28 premiere, the track bows with 5.3 million in radio audience, 3.3 million official U.S. streams and 4,000 sold through Dec. 1, according to Luminate.

“Lux” previews 72 Reasons, the band’s 11th studio album, due April 14, 2023.

Metallica previously topped Hot Hard Rock Songs (which began in 2020) for nine weeks starting in July with its 1986 classic “Master of Puppets,” sparked by its synch in Netflix’s Stranger Things.

“Lux” concurrently charges in at No. 2 on Mainstream Rock Airplay, the chart’s best debut since 2006, when Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ “Dani California” also began at No. 2. Metallica ties its highest arrival on the list, matching 2003’s “St. Anger.” The band now boasts 25 top 10s on the tally, dating to its first — “Enter Sandman,” in 1991.

“Lux” also opens at No. 2 on Rock & Alternative Airplay and becomes the group’s first Alternative Airplay entry since 2009 at No. 35.

The track debuts at No. 1 on Hard Rock Digital Song Sales (marking Metallica’s fifth ruler since the chart began in 2007 and second this year following “Puppets” [seven weeks]) and at No. 7 on Hard Rock Streaming Songs.

72 Reasons is Metallica’s first studio album since Hardwired…to Self-Destruct, which debuted as the band’s sixth No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart in December 2016. The group first led with its self-titled set in August 1991; the album spends a 688th week on the Dec. 10-dated survey, the fourth-longest run in the tally’s history, dating to 1956.