05-05-2025
Ghost Has Made Billboard History With Their 2025 LP, ‘Skeletá'
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - APRIL 20: Tobias Forge as Papa V Perpetua of Ghost performs at Utilita Arena ... More Birmingham on April 20, 2025 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Katja Ogrin/Redferns)
Who knew that catchy melodic songwriting coupled with brilliant 80s arena metal would bring Ghost their first No.1 charting album in the U.S. Skeletá, the sixth studio album from the masked Swedish outfit Ghost, has debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart.
This marks the band's first ever No.1 charting album in the U.S., and with this feat Ghost has officially broken metal's dry spell on the Billboard Top 200 Charts. Skeletá is the first metal or metal-adjacent record to chart at No.1 since TOOL's Fear Inoculum in 2019. AC/DC were the last hard-rock band to debut No.1 with their 2020 LP Power Up.
Billboard notes that Skeletá has shipped a staggering 86,000 equivalent album units since its release on April 25th. However, what's even more noteworthy is that Skeletá just earned Ghost the biggest week for a hard rock album debut on vinyl in the modern era, according to Billboard.
This is truly a massive achievement not only for Ghost and the rock genres that they dabble in, but also for music consumers. Vinyl and physical media has proven once again that it is here to stay for the long haul, which goes against many of the practices currently going on across the entertainment industry with streaming services. The metal and rock music scenes certainly have an affinity for physical media, and Ghost's latest release not only showcases that but it proves the demand for physical media, specifically vinyl, is only climbing.
With the success Ghost has seen so far metal music is already in a great spot in 2025. However, Sleep Token, the sensational UK metal outfit, is set to release their highly anticipated fourth LP, Even In Arcadia, on Friday, May 9th. Given the charting success from Sleep Token's recent singles, it's more than likely that they could also be bringing home their first No.1 charting album in the U.S. as well.
This would be unprecedented if this did end up occurring. The only comparable year where there have been two metal albums that have debuted at No.1 weeks apart was in 2019, when Slipknot's We Are Not Your Kind and TOOL's Fear Inoculum both charted at No.1 in the span of a month.
