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The Groove

The greatest heavy metal artists of all time

220 artists ranked by the Groove — music.nw’s own measure of renown. Not an opinion, a fact computed from the record. Why?

No. 1

Iron Maiden

United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1975– · heavy metal
214.997
Why this number?
The full board
2 Metallica United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1981– · heavy metal 163.872
3 Black Sabbath United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1968–2025 · heavy metal 118.907
4 Judas Priest United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1969– · heavy metal 98.084
5 Motörhead United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1975–2015 · heavy metal 51.908
6 Megadeth United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1983– · heavy metal 51.673
7 Ozzy Osbourne United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1948–2025 · heavy metal 34.710
8 Dream Theater United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1985– · progressive metal 30.052
9 Accept Germany flagGermany · 1971– · heavy metal 29.278
10 Dio United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1982–2010 · heavy metal 19.844
11 Pantera United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1982– · heavy metal 18.376
12 Scorpions Germany flagGermany · 1965– · hard rock 17.991
13 Helloween Germany flagGermany · 1984– · power metal 15.663
14 Mercyful Fate Denmark flagDenmark · 1981– · heavy metal 15.421
15 Sabaton Sweden flagSweden · 1999– · power metal 14.458
16 Ghost Sweden flagSweden · 2008– · heavy metal 14.284
17 Manowar United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1980– · heavy metal 14.241
18 W.A.S.P. United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1982– · heavy metal 13.644
19 Rammstein Germany flagGermany · 1994– · industrial metal 13.494
20 Avenged Sevenfold United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1999– · heavy metal 13.300
21 Slayer United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1981– · thrash metal 11.346
22 Deep Purple United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1968– · hard rock 10.643
23 Nine Inch Nails United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1988– · industrial 10.274
24 Blue Öyster Cult United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1967– · hard rock 10.227
25 Therion Sweden flagSweden · 1988– · symphonic metal 10.076
26 Alice in Chains United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1987– · grunge 9.895
27 Saxon United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1976– · heavy metal 9.747
28 Marilyn Manson United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1989– · alternative rock 9.493
29 Anthrax United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1981– · thrash metal 9.402
30 Blind Guardian Germany flagGermany · 1984– · power metal 8.988
31 Disturbed United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1996– · alternative metal 7.740
32 Led Zeppelin United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1968–1980 · rock 7.534
33 System of a Down United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1995– · alternative metal 7.456
34 Tool United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1990– · alternative metal 7.270
35 Apocalyptica Finland flagFinland · 1993– · heavy metal 7.067
36 Guns N’ Roses United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1985– · hard rock 6.669
37 Nightwish Finland flagFinland · 1996– · symphonic metal 6.396
38 Van Halen United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1972–2019 · hard rock 6.213
39 Def Leppard United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom · 1977– · hard rock 5.931
40 Machine Head United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1991– · thrash metal 5.807
41 Sonata Arctica Finland flagFinland · 1999– · rock 5.760
42 HammerFall Sweden flagSweden · 1993– · power metal 5.610
43 Queensrÿche United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1981– · progressive metal 5.603
44 Mastodon United States of America flagUnited States of America · 2000– · progressive metal 5.464
45 Deftones United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1988– · alternative metal 5.453
46 Opeth Sweden flagSweden · 1990– · progressive metal 5.338
47 Korn United States of America flagUnited States of America · 1993– · nu metal 5.292
48 Voivod Canada flagCanada · 1982– · heavy metal 4.710