Popular Rock Band Tops Albums Chart for First Time in 4 Years
A career milestone!
Swedish rock band Ghost landed the No. 1 spot on the all-genre-inclusive Billboard 200 albums chart with their sixth studio album, Skeletá.
'Skeletá' is the first album for any rock, hard rock, or alternative album to be on the list since AC/DC's Power Up in 2020.
Ghost was founded in 2006 by frontman Tobias Forge. Forge, 44, plays a number of different personas on stage, including Papa Emeritus and Cardinal Copia.
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The rest of the band members are referred to as 'Nameless Ghouls,' and have never revealed their identities.
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Their studio albums consist of Opus Eponymous in 2010, Infestissumam in 2013, Meliora in 2015, Prequelle in 2018, Impera in 2022, and finally, Skeletá in 2025.
In 2015, Ghost won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for their single 'Circle.'
Related: Legendary Rock Band Rereleases Hit Song Like You've Never Heard Before
Ghost is also known for their over-the-top, theatrical concerts. Speaking with Full Metal Jackie on her radio show, Forge revealed his most formative influencers when it comes to putting on a show.
"At some point in the 80s, I saw the film Let's Spend the Night Together. For a long time, that was one of my favorite things to watch because it was just so amazing. This absolutely awesome band playing a big stadium, and then like midway through the film, they just sort of switch and they're playing indoors in an arena. It was just like this great film, very influential," he recalled, per Loudwire
"That is by far the coolest staging I've seen in my entire life. That is still the pinnacle. Especially the Steel Wheels tour that they did in 1989, the fall and winter of 1989, that was the big tour of the U.S and I remember seeing videos from that," Forge continued. "I remember taping a show that was live from Barcelona, 1990. And I think I paused, freeze-framed the entire film through the entire film because I wanted to draw the stage because it was so cool."
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