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At least with most gothic or hard rock music, it’s about feeling good about yourself.” “Other music styles that promote a way of living that their fans will never have - when music is all about ‘making it’ and wearing ‘bling-bling’ and ‘all them bitches,’ and the idea that without that stuff you’re nothing - that is a bad influence for your fans. “I definitely think there are other music styles that promote a way worse lifestyle, that you could look upon as being more negative,” Forge says. Hard rock, in general, does not promote that you should harm anyone. “Actually, it might have even been the music that made them live so long, that kept them going. That’s because they were in a bad place in their lives,” he stresses. “There are definitely rock fans over the years that have done negative things toward each other and or towards themselves, but I don’t think that’s because of the music. I think it’s sad that people are wasting their time thinking that we’re bad for people, when actually what we’re really trying to do is make people happy and make people feel good about themselves when they come to our show and have a good time.”Īlthough certain PMRC-baiting shock-rockers that paved the way for Ghost - Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Marilyn Manson - have been accused of encouraging suicidal or homicidal tendencies among impressionable fans, Forge believes that “dark music, everything from gothic to death metal and black metal and hardcore” can, on the contrary, be a source of celebration and even salvation. I find it saddening that people would choose to stand out in the cold, thinking that they’re making a difference. … I find it saddening thinking that there are people who don’t know f***ing bad from good and s*** from Shinola. Still, although Forge says such outrage is “to an extent, amusing,” he adds, “To a greater extent, I think it’s sad. “At the end of the day, what caused was more tickets sold - so thank you very much,” Forge chuckles. Ghost’s Midland show went on as planned, of course. … I think if singing along to those lyrics, who knows what in the world they’re opening their hearts and lives up to?”
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We’re concerned about it, because we believe the devil is real, just as we believe God is real. Last November, Larry Long, the pastor of the Fellowship Community Church, said Midland needed to be protected from the supposedly devil-worshiping group, warning a local CBS affiliate, “This kind of band will bring spiritual influences into this area. However, as Ghost’s fame has grown, so have some of the protests targeting the band - including a bizarre one that took place last year in Midland, Texas, during Ghost’s “A Pale Tour Named Death” U.S. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart. 3 on the Billboard album chart and made Yahoo Entertainment’s list of the top 10 albums of 2018, and that album’s monster single, “Rats,” spent an incredible seven weeks at No. Aside from its multiple Grammy nods, its fourth album, Prequelle, went to No. Though Ghost’s over-the-top, presumably tongue-in-greasepainted-cheek satanic imagery has always drawn detractors, the band has finally started to gain widespread acceptance. “We obviously are a polarizing band,” Ghost’s fearless leader Tobias Forge - alternately known as the diabolical priest character Papa Emeritus or Papa’s panda-eyed successor, Cardinal Copia - tells Yahoo Entertainment. Bombastic, theatric, operatic metal Swedes have become unlikely Grammy darlings, winning Best Metal Performance in 2016 and scoring two nominations at this year’s upcoming 61st Annual Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song.