"Peace Sells" is a song by the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 thrash metal

Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...

 band Megadeth

Megadeth

Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...

 from the 1986 album Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?

-25th Anniversary 2-CD reissue:-25th Anniversary box set:Disc 5 contains both the original album, and the above listed 1987 show in hi-resolution audio....

, written by Dave Mustaine

Dave Mustaine

David Scott "Dave" Mustaine is the founder, main songwriter, guitarist, and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Megadeth. Prior to Megadeth, Mustaine was the first lead guitarist and a co-songwriter of the heavy metal band Metallica until he was fired from the band in 1983. In 2009, he...

. It, along with Wake Up Dead

Wake Up Dead

"Wake Up Dead" is a song by Megadeth. It is the only single released from their second album, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?, and additionally the first single ever launched by the band. Along with the title track, "Peace Sells", this song is a live staple at almost every Megadeth show...

 from the same album, has been a staple at Megadeth concerts. Lyrically, it deals with negative stereotypes about "metalheads", all of which Mustaine claims are untrue. VH1

VH1

VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...

 has ranked "Peace Sells" at #11 on their list of the 40 greatest metal songs of all time.

Music video

A music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 was produced for the song, which features a teenage boy, wearing a Slayer

Slayer

Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...

 t-shirt, watching a montage of a live Megadeth performances and war footage on his living room

Living room

A living room, also known as sitting room, lounge room or lounge , is a room for entertaining adult guests, reading, or other activities...

 television set. The boy's father, states "What is this garbage you're watching? I want to watch the news!," and changes the television channel to a news station using the remote control

Remote control

A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...

. His son, replying with "This is the news!," changes it back to the Megadeth performance using the TV set's channel knob. This part of the video was parodied by comedian Brian Posehn

Brian Posehn

Brian Edmund Posehn is an American actor, voice actor, musician and comedian, known for his roles as mail clerk Kevin Liotta on NBC's Just Shoot Me!, a cast member and writer on HBO's Mr. Show, and most recently as Brian Spukowski on Comedy Central's The Sarah Silverman Program.-Early life:Posehn...

 in his Metal by Numbers video. The beginning of the video also showed the explosion of the original low-cost skull used on the previous album Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!

Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!

Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! is the debut album by the American heavy metal band Megadeth, released in June 1985 through Combat and Relativity Records. During the beginning of 1985, the band was given $8,000 by Combat Records to record and produce their debut album, but this...

 The song is also known for the metal anthem bass riff by Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson. It was the opening song for MTV for years.

Appearances and covers

• The song appears in the videogames NHL 10
  NHL 10
  NHL 10 is a video game in the NHL series developed and released by EA Canada and published by EA Sports, and is the 19th game in the series. The game debuted at Hockey Fest '09, a three-day interactive festival celebrating the sport of hockey and the Los Angeles Kings, which took place in downtown...
  
  , Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
  Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
  Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 open world action computer and video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the second 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise and sixth original title overall...
  
  , Rock Band 2
  Rock Band 2
  Rock Band 2 is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems. It is the sequel to Rock Band and is the second title in the series. The game allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments...
  
  , True Crime: Streets of LA
  True Crime: Streets of LA
  True Crime: Streets of LA is an action-adventure video game developed by Luxoflux and published by Activision for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube in November 2003 and the first game in the True Crime series...
  
  and downloadable content for Guitar Hero 5
  Guitar Hero 5
  Guitar Hero 5 is a music video game and the fifth main entry in the Guitar Hero series. The game was developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision, and released internationally in September 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, 3 and Wii consoles...
  
  .
• The opening bassline was used as the theme for MTV News
  MTV News
  MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
  
  , but Mustaine claims he never received any royalties for MTV's usage of the song.
• Tigertailz
  Tigertailz
  Tigertailz are a glam metal band hailing from Cardiff, Wales. They are most famous for their 1990 album, Bezerk, which made the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart, and spawned a couple of successful singles...
  
   covered it and it appears on their 1991 B-sides compilation album Banzai!
  Banzai! (Tigertailz Album)
  Banzai! is a 1991 album by Tigertailz. It is a collection of B sides and singles originally for Japan only.It includes a remake version of "Livin' without you", and a live version of "She'z too hot" from their first album Young and Crazy, and two covers: "Creeping Death" by Metallica and "Peace...
  
  .