Roadrunner Records

Roadrunner Records built its name on heavy metal at a time when the genre's underground was splintering into ever more extreme forms. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980 by Cees Wessels, the label became a key outlet for hard rock and metal, initially working across Europe and using the Roadracer name outside the continent during the 1980s.

Its early roster reflected metal's harsher edges as well as its traditional strains. Roadrunner released work by artists including King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Annihilator and Carnivore, while becoming closely associated with death metal and its surrounding scenes through bands such as Death, Deicide, Gorguts, Obituary and Pestilence. Sepultura was another defining name in the label's international reach. The catalogue connected Dutch roots with artists from across Europe and North America, giving heavy music a dedicated label identity beyond the major-label system.

During the 1990s, Roadrunner broadened its commercial ambitions, a shift that created tension with some of the heavy and extreme metal acts associated with its earlier years. Even so, it remained a major home for metal releases, and its artist community was brought together under the Roadrunner United banner, including a subsequent live concert.

Warner Music Group announced an agreement to acquire 73.5% of Roadrunner Records on December 18, 2006. The acquisition was completed on January 29, 2007 following regulatory approval in Germany, and Warner fully acquired the company in November 2010. Wessels remained the label's CEO until April 2012, when its Dutch office closed. Roadrunner is now a Warner Music Group division based in New York City. Its later roster has included Slipknot, Motionless In White and Turnstile, extending a history rooted in hard, heavy and confrontational music.