Tobias Forge Explained

Tobias Forge
Birth Date:3 March 1981
Birth Place:Linköping, Sweden
Years Active:1996–present
Current Member Of:Ghost

Tobias Jens Forge (in Swedish pronounced as /tʊˈbǐːas ˈjɛns ˈfɔ̌rːɡɛ/;[1] born March 3, 1981) is a Swedish singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He is the leader and primary songwriter of the masked Occult-rock band Ghost, performing live as their vocalist under the stage names Papa Emeritus and Cardinal Copia. Although the band was formed in 2006, Forge's identity as the Ghost frontman was only confirmed in 2017, following a lawsuit by former band members due to a royalty dispute. Prior to finding success, he was in several other bands, including Repugnant and Crashdïet, under the stage name Mary Goore.

For his musical accomplishments, Forge was awarded the 2019 Platinagitarren award from STIM, who explained "With one foot standing firmly on the metal floor, Forge is a composer pushing the boundaries of the genre." Jury member and journalist Jan Gradvall stated that Forge is among the "most visionary and creative in Swedish music history."[2] Due to "Ghost's epic progression from underground doom favorites to an arena phenomenon" in the 2010s, Loudwire named Forge the Metal Artist of the Decade.[3]

Repugnant and Crashdïet

Forge was a member of the band Superior under the stage name Leviathan in 1996. He fronted the Stockholm-based death metal band Repugnant from 1998, under the stage name Mary Goore, which Metal Hammer reported is a play on the name of Irish guitarist Gary Moore.[4] They recorded their only studio album Epitome of Darkness in 2002, but it was left unreleased when the band broke up in 2004, only being published in 2006.[5] Between 2000 and 2002, Forge was also a guitarist for glam metal band Crashdïet using the Mary Goore name. At some point he also played guitar for the punk rock band Onkel Kånkel.[6] Repugnant briefly reunited for the Hell's Pleasure festival in 2010.

Subvision and Magna Carta Cartel

From 2002 to 2008, Forge was vocalist and guitarist of the pop rock band Subvision. The group also included future Ghost members Martin Persner and Gustaf Lindström on guitar and bass respectively.[7] They released two EPs and one album, So Far So Noir (2006), before disbanding.

Forge, Persner and Simon Söderberg, another future Ghost member, were also members of the Linköping-based alternative rock band Magna Carta Cartel (or MCC) from 2006 to 2010.[8] Forge played guitar and bass, with Persner and Söderberg both handling guitar and singing duties. The band went on hiatus when all three began to focus on Ghost.[9] Persner left Ghost in July 2016 and reformed Magna Carta Cartel.[10]

Ghost

Since 2006, Forge has acted as chief songwriter and business leader of the rock and heavy metal band Ghost, a project and role that contributed to a significant rise in his fame and popularity, following many years of involvement in other underground acts.[11] During live performances with the band, he performs as its singer. Each album has a 'new singer': originally Papa Emeritus I through to III—a demonic anti-pope—and then Cardinal Copia, who became Papa Emeritus IV in March 2020. Peter Hällje, a former bandmate of Martin Persner, claimed he designed the Papa Emeritus character in 2005, prior to the formation of Ghost. Hällje never performed as Papa Emeritus and agreed with Persner to let him use the character for his then-new band.[12] For recorded material, Forge seems to also play most of the other instruments in addition to vocals. For example, he claimed that the 2010 debut album, Opus Eponymous, was recorded with a session drummer and nothing else.

In 2012, during a concert in the band's hometown of Linköping, Sweden, Papa Emeritus was seemingly retired and replaced by a new vocalist, Papa Emeritus II, but this was actually Forge in another costume.[13] The band's second album, Infestissumam, was released in 2013. Due to a legal dispute over the band's name, they were forced to release the album using the name "Ghost B.C." in the United States.[14] Forge performed as Papa Emeritus II for this album, as well as the subsequent EP, If You Have Ghost (2013). Papa Emeritus III was introduced in 2015 to coincide with the release of the band's third album, Meliora.[15] Papa Emeritus III was retired at the end of Ghost's 2016–2017 Popestar Tour (being physically dragged off stage at the end of the final show), and a new character, Papa Emeritus Zero (now known as Papa Nihil), was introduced immediately afterward.[16] Forge is credited as Papa Nihil on the two-track release Seven Inches of Satanic Panic, which is purported by the band to have been recorded in 1969.[17] [18] For Ghost's fourth album, Prequelle (2018), Forge adopted another new persona, Cardinal Copia. During the final show of A Pale Tour Named Death, Cardinal Copia was anointed and introduced as Papa Emeritus IV.[19]

Despite anonymity being one of Ghost's biggest themes, Forge's identity as Papa Emeritus was revealed following a lawsuit in April 2017 by former Ghost members over a royalties dispute.[20] They also claimed he was trying to transform Ghost "from a band into a solo project with hired musicians" in an "underhanded and shameless way".[21] Forge has disputed this, claiming that Ghost "was always sort of… I guess a Bathory sort of band, where there was people playing live, and the people playing live [were] not necessarily the same that played on the records." Forge claimed that "no legal partnership" ever existed between the other members and himself; they were paid a fixed salary to perform and execute the band's image as he instructed as "musicians for hire."[11]

Other work

Forge, as Papa Emeritus III, appears as a guest on Candlemass's May 2018 vinyl-exclusive version of "House of Doom".[22] As Cardinal Copia, he joined members of Candlemass and Vargas and Lagola for a live performance of "Enter Sandman" in front of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Silvia of Sweden during a ceremony on 14 June 2018 honoring Metallica with the Polar Music Prize.[23] Cardinal Copia also makes a featured appearance on the song "I'm Not Afraid" from Emigrate's November 2018 album A Million Degrees.[24] On 22 January 2021, Papa Emeritus IV joined the Hellacopters on the Swedish television game show På spåret to perform a cover of "Sympathy for the Devil".[25] Papa Emeritus IV also appeared at Guaranteed Rate Field on 22 September 2022 to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians baseball game.[26] [27] [28] Forge also appeared in the last episode of Netflix series Clark, that aired in May 2022.[29]

Filmmaking

Directed by Forge and Alex Ross Perry, on June 20, 2024, Rite Here Rite Now was released in cinemas globally by Trafalgar Releasing.

The film includes a narrative story based on a web series produced by the band, which incorporates fictional characters and lore surrounding them.

Personal life

Forge is married and the father of fraternal twins, a son named Morris and a daughter named Minou.[30] Minou sings in "Ashes", the opening track to Prequelle.[31] Morris is featured on Ghost's cover of the Metallica song "Enter Sandman", which Forge recorded to support Camp Aranu'tiq, a summer camp for transgender youths.[32]

His brother Sebastian, who was thirteen years his senior, had a large influence on him and introduced him to film and music such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kim Wilde, Rainbow, Kiss, and Mötley Crüe at a very young age. Sebastian died from heart disease on 12 March 2010, the same day that Ghost released their first demo songs online.[33]

Forge stated that as an adolescent he "unquestionably [threw his] hands into the hands of Satan."[33] He cited a strict stepmother, the alienation he felt at her home, and an even stricter religious schoolteacher for making him run "headfirst into the arms of the devil."[33]

Forge is a member of the Swedish Order of Freemasons.[34] [35]

Discography

Ghost

Studio albums:

EPs:

Repugnant

Studio albums:

EPs:

Subvision

Studio albums:

EPs:

Magna Carta Cartel

Studio albums:

EPs:

References

  1. Web site: Tobias Forge (Ghost) Sommar i P1 - 17 Augusti 2017. YouTube. 17 August 2017 . sv.
  2. Tobias Forge får Stims Platinagitarr 2019 . Tobias Forge gets Stims Platinum Guitar 2019 . . sv . 14 November 2019 . 27 April 2020.
  3. Ghost's Tobias Forge Is the Metal Artist of the Decade . Hartmann . Graham . . 9 December 2019 . 12 December 2019.
  4. Web site: The true meaning behind Ghost's Mary On A Cross. Travers. Paul. 19 December 2022. Metal Hammer. 2 March 2023.
  5. Web site: Tobias Forge Laments Lack Of Success For Pre-Ghost Outfit Repugnant: 'If I Look Back On How I Did Things, It Was Unprofessional'. 27 May 2018. Blabbermouth.net. 31 May 2018.
  6. Web site: Tobias Forge - Sommar & Vinter i P1. 17 August 2017. Sveriges Radio. sv. 2 June 2018.
  7. Web site: Ellenberger. Kurt. Ghost of a Chance: A New Paradigm for Pop Music Success?. Huffington Post. 6 December 2017. 2 June 2018.
  8. Web site: Ghost Unmasked: Nameless Ghoul Known as Omega Reveals His Identity, His Name Is Martin Persner. ultimate-guitar.com. 2 March 2017. 21 August 2017.
  9. Web site: MCC [Magna Carta Cartel]]. Facebook. 21 August 2017.
  10. Web site: Childers. Chad. Ex-Nameless Ghoul From Ghost Identifies Self, Reveals New Band. Loudwire. 2 March 2017. 21 August 2017.
  11. Web site: Ghost Frontman's Response Claims 'No Legal Partnership' Existed With Bandmates . Childers . Chad . . 8 June 2017 . 3 July 2017.
  12. Web site: Mannen bakom Ghosts huvudkaraktär: "Jag är alltså den förste Papa Emeritus – inte Tobias Forge" . The man behind the main character of Ghost: "I am thus the first Papa Emeritus - not Tobias Forge" . 14 June 2017 . sv . BaraMetal.
  13. Web site: Ghost Introduce "New" Papa Emeritus During Hometown Show… Wait, What? . Shaw . Zach . Metal Insider . 17 December 2012 . 17 May 2017.
  14. Web site: Ghost B.C. Unveil 'Infestissumam' Release Date + 2013 North American Tour With Ides of Gemini . Graham . Hartmann . . 4 February 2013 . 17 May 2017 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130623082504/https://loudwire.com/ghost-b-c-infestissumam-release-date-2013-north-american-tour-dates/ . 23 June 2013.
  15. Web site: Ghost Unveil 'New' Leader Papa Emeritus III . Chad . Childers . . 16 July 2015 . 17 May 2017.
  16. Web site: Ghost's Papa Emeritus III Plays Final Show, Transition to New "Papa" Begins . Chad . Childers . . 1 October 2017 . 3 October 2017.
  17. Web site: Ghost Share 'Slowed + Reverb' Version Of Viral Smash 'Mary On A Cross' . Will . Schube . . 29 August 2022 . 14 September 2022.
  18. Web site: GHOST's Tobias Forge Has 50 New Song Ideas; Says Two New Songs Not Indicative Of New Album's Sound . Greg . Kennelty . Metal Injection . 22 September 2019 . 14 September 2022.
  19. Web site: Ghost Introduces Papa Emeritus IV At Final Concert Of 'Prequelle' Album Cycle: Video, Photos. 3 March 2020. Blabbermouth.net. 3 March 2020.
  20. Web site: Four Former Members of Ghost Reveal Identities, Speak Out About Lawsuit Against Tobias Forge ("Papa Emeritus") . Vince . NeilStein . . 6 April 2017 . 17 May 2017.
  21. Web site: Former Ghost Members Accuse Singer Of Trying To 'Shamelessly' Turn 'Band' Into 'Solo Project'. 6 April 2017. Blabbermouth.net. 6 April 2017.
  22. Web site: Ghost's Tobias Forge To Guest On 10-Inch Vinyl Version Of Candlemass's 'House Of Doom' . . 10 May 2018. 14 June 2018.
  23. Web site: Metallica Honored With Polar Music Prize; Ghost And Candlemass Members Perform 'Enter Sandman' . . 14 June 2018. 14 June 2018.
  24. Hear Ghost's Cardinal Copia Croon on Rammstein Side Project Emigrate's New Song . . 30 November 2018. 30 November 2018.
  25. Web site: Graham . Hartmann . Ghost's Papa Emeritus IV Makes First TV Appearance, Sings the Rolling Stones' 'Sympathy for the Devil' . . 22 January 2021 . en . 23 January 2021.
  26. Web site: Ghost's Papa Emeritus IV Throws Out the First Pitch at Chicago White Sox Game. Cohen. Jonathan. 23 September 2022. Spin. 29 September 2022.
  27. Web site: Ghost's Papa Emeritus IV Throws First Pitch at White Sox Game: Watch. Arcand. Rob. 23 September 2022. Pitchfork. 1 October 2022.
  28. Web site: Ghost's Papa Emeritus IV fires a ghoulish first pitch. Garro. Adrian. 23 September 2022. MLB.com. 1 October 2022.
  29. Web site: 2022-05-05 . See Ghost's Tobias Forge Get Beaten With Fiddle in New Netflix Show . 2022-10-14 . Revolver . en.
  30. Hickie. J.. Ghost: "We're not a nostalgia band; I refuse to be there yet". . 13 May 2022. 8 April 2023.
  31. Prequelle . CD liner notes . 2018 . discogs.com . . LVR00383.
  32. Hickie. J.. Why Ghost Are Covering Metallica's "Enter Sandman" to Help Transgender Kids. . 31 March 2022. 8 April 2023.
  33. Bennett. J.. Ghost: The True Story of Death, Religion and Rock & Roll Behind Metal's Strangest Band. . 29 May 2018. 31 May 2018.
  34. Prütz. Jerry. Musikaliska murare – inte bara Mozart, del två. Frimuraren. 2 December 2019. 5 April 2023.
  35. Prütz. Jerry. Regeringens pris för utomordentliga insatser for svensk musikexport 2019 går til frimuraren Tobias Forge. Frimuraren. 21 December 2020. 5 April 2023.