While we certainly weren’t the ones to break it, we’ve known since 2011 that Ghost’s mysterious leader, initially known as Papa Emeritus and now as Cardinal Copia, was Tobias Forge. That became public knowledge last year as the result of a lawsuit brought against the band by former members, which is how we also found out that there were multiple Nameless Ghouls. And while the mystery is gone to a large extent, some wondered if the band would lose their luster and become less popular once people knew the inner workings of the band.
That’s obviously proven to not be the case. Since then, Ghost have won a Grammy, gotten a #1 song at active rock, and are going to be playing arenas before the year’s out. They’re more popular than ever, and in an interview with NME, Forge said that his identity reveal was almost bound to happen:
“All things considered, a year down the line, having been through so much turmoil. I’ve come to realise that what happened needed to happen. Also, I’m a big fan of rock, of rock history, and I’ve read every classic rock biography of every band I’m a fan of. You know what? The same shit takes place in every single one. A friend of mine, a very successful songwriter, said to me, ‘you’re not really in the game until you’ve been sued, so welcome in!’ and I think he’s got a point. I’ve been in lots of situations in my life where I’ve managed to turn pain into growing pains. Really, what happened was a receipt that things are going well. It’s fine. It’ll be over…”
While the rest of the dismissed members most likely have a different opinion, it really doesn’t seem to have impacted the band in any significant way. In fact, with #cardiC a trending hashtag and Prequelle out next Friday (1), they’re not going anywhere soon.
