Ghost

Melding hook-driven hard rock with metal and pop leanings, the elaborately dressed Swedish ensemble Ghost weaves performances around horror motifs, occult lore, and religious imagery. Fronting the ensemble is singer, songwriter, and mastermind Tobias Forge, who appears in assorted demonic papal attire while a supporting cast of “Nameless Ghouls” remains concealed beneath robes and theatrical cosmetics. The 2011 debut Opus Eponymous fused 1970s hard rock with 1980s hair-metal flair across melody-rich tracks. Its 2013 follow-up Infestissumam emphasized keyboards, blending progressive pop elements with alternative metal. The 2015 album Meliora drew on vintage FM rock, New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and sharp new-wave accents, whereas the Grammy-nominated 2018 release Prequelle intensified the melodic focus, nodding to ABBA while merging the riff-heavy power of Judas Priest and King Diamond. Ghost unveiled its fifth studio album, the global chart leader Impera, in 2022, then issued the 2023 covers EP Phantomime and staged the worldwide cinematic event Rite Here Rite Now in 2024.

Forge, previously vocalist and guitarist for the death-metal group Repugnant, assembled Ghost in Linköping, Sweden, in 2006. He composed “Stand by Him” and reached out to ex-bandmate Gustaf Lindström in early 2008 to help capture the track professionally; the pair also recorded “Prime Mover” and “Death Knell.” The Satanic and occult lyrics sparked a theatrical concept that Forge envisioned as an anonymous, ritualistic rock act. Enlisting additional players, he cloaked them in hooded garments and labeled them “Nameless Ghouls.” Naming the project Ghost, Forge adopted skull-like facial paint and papal vestments, billing himself as Papa Emeritus—a persona he has revised or replaced with each subsequent album.

Although Forge initially sought to handle lead guitar, he first offered the vocalist role to Messiah Marcolin, Mats Levén, Krister Göransson, and J.B. Christoffersson; after each declined, he assumed vocal duties himself. In March 2010 he uploaded the three Ghost recordings to MySpace, prompting responses from multiple labels and managers within forty-eight hours.

The band began performing in underground venues, refining its sound with added keyboards and occasional pop-prog textures. Their ritualistic stage presentations quickly endeared them to Swedish metal audiences. A three-song demo and the single “Elizabeth” appeared in 2010, both selling out promptly. Issued on Rise Above Ltd., the debut album Opus Eponymous surprised listeners with its inviting melodic character, merging 1960s psychedelia, doom-laden hard rock, and pervasive New Wave of British Heavy Metal influences. The contrast between the music’s approachable textures and the group’s ominous visual presentation proved striking, attracting international listeners despite restricted distribution. While some metal devotees found the style disorienting, progressive-rock fans embraced it. Ghost toured extensively abroad; the set earned a Swedish Grammis nomination, after which the band signed with Universal’s Loma Vista Recordings.

Following two years of worldwide touring, Ghost released the single “Secular Haze” and delivered its second album, Infestissumam, in January 2013. Produced by Nick Raskulinecz in Nashville, the record adopted a keyboard-heavy palette steeped in gothic and progressive elements. Forge built the arrangements around a choir as a foundational component. The persistent Satanic and occult lyrical content, together with the band’s reputation, led nearly every local choir to boycott the sessions, forcing the vocal choir tracks to be captured in Hollywood. The album artwork, characterized as “basically a 16th century illustration of an orgy,” was rejected by four U.S. CD manufacturers and surfaced only on European compact discs and American vinyl editions. Infestissumam received widespread praise, topped Swedish rock charts, reached seven additional countries, and earned gold certification. It secured both the Grammis and P3 Guld Awards for Best Hard Rock/Metal Album of 2013. As Ghost’s visibility grew across the Atlantic, the group attracted devotees outside traditional metal circles. Later that year the band issued the covers EP If You Have Ghost, produced by Dave Grohl.

In May 2015 Ghost announced the dismissal of Forge’s persona Papa Emeritus II, succeeded by his three-month-younger sibling, Papa Emeritus III. The advance single “Cirice” appeared as a free download and charted in nine territories before the August arrival of the third album, Meliora. Produced by pop specialist Klas Åhlund (Katy Perry, Usher, Kesha, Madonna) and mixed by Andy Wallace, the record fused refined pop craftsmanship with mid-1970s hard-rock references to Blue Öyster Cult, Alice Cooper, and New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Meliora marked Ghost’s international breakthrough. “Cirice” received the 2016 Grammy for Best Metal Performance, while the album claimed another Swedish Grammis and appeared on charts in thirteen countries. A deluxe reissue added two originals and several covers, among them the Eurythmics’ “Missionary Man”; those bonus tracks were also issued separately as the Popestar EP. The album’s infectious melodies bridged metal, indie, and pop audiences.

Legal proceedings emerged in 2017 when former members Simon Soderberg, Mauro Rubino, Martin Hjertstedt, and Henrik Palm sued Forge over royalties, ending the musicians’ anonymity. The suit was ultimately dismissed. After issuing the year-end live album Ceremony and Devotion, Forge continued with a new lineup.

The 2018 album Prequelle introduced Forge’s next character, Cardinal Copia. Produced and recorded by Tom Dalgrin, it abandoned Satanism and occultism in favor of broader thematic territory. Seeking arena-scale appeal, Forge aimed “to sound like the best 1970s band you never heard.” Alongside expansive, radio-friendly hard-rock energy, the songs incorporated funky bass lines, disco rhythms, robust horn sections, and plentiful analog synthesizers, while referencing Dark Ages events such as the Bubonic plague. Prequelle entered the Billboard 200 at No. 3 and topped the U.S. Top Rock Albums chart, becoming the band’s highest-charting release to that point. Lead single “Rats” earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song, and the album itself was nominated for Best Rock Album.

While maintaining a near-constant touring schedule, Forge prepared fresh material. The 2019 two-song EP Seven Inches of Satanic Panic featured the retro-styled “Kiss the Go-Goat” and the soaring “Mary on a Cross.” In 2021 Ghost contributed a cover of “Enter Sandman” to the Metallica tribute The Metallica Blacklist and supplied the original track “Hunter’s Moon” to the Halloween Kills soundtrack.

The January 2022 single “Call Me Little Sunshine” preceded the March release of fifth album Impera. Reuniting with Åhlund and Wallace, Forge merged lifelong affinities for Blue Öyster Cult, early Judas Priest, and Queen with NWOBHM influences Def Leppard and Tygers of Pan Tang, also enlisting Opeth guitarist Fredrik Åkesson. The twelve-track set balanced layered keyboards and dual lead guitars with polished, commanding percussion. Forge’s references coalesced in anthemic pieces such as “Kaisarion,” “Spillways,” and “Darkness at the Heart of My Love.” Upon release, Impera debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and led charts throughout Europe. Three months later the band launched the international Imperatour, selling out venues in Los Angeles, New York, London, and Stockholm. Between the Imperatour and Re-Imperatour legs, Ghost issued the short EP Message From The Clergy, spotlighting live staples and a slowed + reverb rendition of “Mary on a Cross,” which gained fresh traction after going viral on social media, securing the band’s first Billboard Hot 100 entry and its first platinum certification.

The year 2023 proved even more expansive. A new version of “Spillways” featuring Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott—whom Forge learned was a fan—opened the calendar. In May the band delivered another covers EP, Phantomime, containing forceful renditions of Genesis’ “Jesus He Knows Me,” Television’s “See No Evil,” and Iron Maiden’s “Phantom of the Opera,” the last of which earned a Grammy nomination. Closing the year, Ghost released 13 Commandments, a career-spanning compilation that highlighted the previously rare fan favorite “Zenith,” originally found on 2016’s Meliora Redux.

After teasing forthcoming developments for 2024, Ghost revealed a theatrical film merging footage from the final two North American Re-Imperatour performances in Los Angeles with the ongoing narrative web-series mythology. Initially scheduled for only two theatrical nights, Rite Here Rite Now extended to a full week due to strong ticket sales, becoming the highest-grossing hard-rock cinema event in North American history and reaching the global top ten with more than $5 million in worldwide receipts. A companion soundtrack followed in July, presenting an expanded set list alongside the new track “The Future Is a Foreign Land.”