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Megaforce Records

US record label

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ477213
Source-derived summary

Megaforce Records is an American independent record label founded in 1982 by Jon Zazula and his wife Marsha Zazula to release the first works of Metallica, and devoted primarily to hard rock and heavy metal. It has offices in New York City (where the corporate office is located) and Philadelphia. The label currently is distributed in the United States by The Orchard and Sony Music internationally, having previously been distributed by Atlantic Records while Anthrax's recordings from 1985 to 1991 were marketed by Island Records.

Megaforce artists that have appeared on the Billboard Top 200 chart include Metallica, Blue October, Anthrax, Overkill, Testament, Mushroomhead, Ministry, Bad Brains and Meat Puppets. The Black Crowes and Meat Puppets have both received various RIAA certifications in the US.

Marsha Zazula, the co-founder of Megaforce Records, died of cancer on January 10, 2021, at the age of 68. Her husband Jon died a year later, on February 1, 2022, at the age of 69.

Editorial summary

“Megaforce Records” enters the record as uS record label. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Megaforce, Records and label can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1982, 1985, 1991, 2021—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1982. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Megaforce, Records and label.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Megaforce Records” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Megaforce, Records and label provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q477213. VIAF identifies the subject as 139676307. The Library of Congress control number is no2011089071. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1982, 1985, 1991 and 2021.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Megaforce Records primary sources, Megaforce Records archive and Megaforce research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Megaforce Records” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.