"Head Crusher" was the first single from American heavy metal band Megadeth's twelfth studio album, titled Endgame, which was released on September 15, 2009. The single was released on July 7, 2009. According to Roadrunner Records official website, a download of "Head Crusher" was available for 24 hours on July 7 (the availability of download ended the morning of July 8). The track was previously available for listening by calling Dave Mustaine's number, through the TheLiveLine.com, a service he launched that enables musicians to connect to their audience over the phone. The song was played live for the first time at the "Canadian Carnage Tour" on June 24, 2009. On December 3, 2009, it was announced on the official Megadeth homepage that "Head Crusher" had been nominated for "Best Metal Performance" for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards, the band's first nomination in 13 years, since "Trust".

This song is about the medieval torture device of the same name. Its lyrics portray a person who is taken underground where he is interrogated using a head crusher device to torture the answers out of him. It explains the effects it would have on one's body.

Two different versions of the music video were released in September, 2009: Extreme and Censored. Both were directed by Patrick Kendall.

To create the video, director Patrick Kendall created a scenario that blended elements of the 1987 film 'The Running Man' with 2000's 'Gladiator' to concoct a violent scenario to match the energy of the high-impact song. The synopsis is simple but effective: Mustaine is playing emcee (like Richard Dawson in 'The Running Man') on a show where hooded criminals in jumpsuits are brought into a ring, unhooded and exposed to a mixed martial arts battle to the death while the band plays on a raised platform.

"I was listening to the song, and I heard the line about 'prisoners,' and I thought about 'The Running Man,'" Kendall told Noisecreep. "So I went back and watched that and 'Gladiator' again, and then I wrote the treatment, which added in some MMA fighting."

The 'Head Crusher' video featured MMA Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Jorg Oliveira, as well as other lesser-known grapplers. "All of these guys were either real fighters or they were people who trained and did this for a hobby," Kendall said. "The stunt coordinator wanted to make sure everybody had some skill in fighting to make it look as real as possible."

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