Tobias Forge facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tobias Forge
Forge performing with Ghost in his Papa Emeritus IV persona at Hellfest 2022
Background information
Also known as	Leviathan Kopromancer Gene Walker Mary Goore A Ghoul Writer Nameless Ghoul Papa Emeritus (I, II, III, IV, Nihil) Cardinal Copia
Born	(1981-03-03) 3 March 1981 (age 44) Linköping, Sweden
Genres	Heavy metal doom metal hard rock progressive rock psychedelic rock death metal pop rock
Occupation(s)	Singer musician songwriter
Instruments	Vocals guitar bass guitar drums keyboards kazoo
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Loma Vista Universal Republic Metal Blade

Tobias Jens Forge (born 3 March 1981) is a Swedish singer, musician, and songwriter. He is best known as the leader and main songwriter of the masked rock band Ghost. When he performs live with Ghost, he sings under the stage names Papa Emeritus and Cardinal Copia.

Ghost started in 2006, but Tobias Forge's identity as the band's frontman was kept secret for a long time. It was finally confirmed in 2017 after some former band members had a disagreement about money. Before Ghost became famous, Forge was in other bands like Repugnant and Crashdïet. In those bands, he used the stage name Mary Goore.

Tobias Forge has received awards for his music. In 2019, he won the Platinagitarren award from STIM. They said he is a composer who pushes the limits of music. A journalist named Jan Gradvall said Forge is one of the most creative people in Swedish music history. The magazine Loudwire named Forge the Metal Artist of the Decade. This was because Ghost grew from a small band to a huge arena act in the 2010s.

Early Bands

Before Ghost, Tobias Forge played in several other bands. These experiences helped him grow as a musician and songwriter.

Repugnant and Crashdïet

In 1996, Forge was in a band called Superior, where he used the name Leviathan. From 1998, he was the lead singer of the death metal band Repugnant. He used the stage name Mary Goore, which is a fun play on the name of Irish guitarist Gary Moore.

Repugnant recorded their only album, Epitome of Darkness, in 2002. However, the band broke up in 2004, so the album was not released until 2006. From 2000 to 2002, Forge also played guitar for the glam metal band Crashdïet. He used the Mary Goore name there too. He also played guitar for the punk rock band Onkel Kånkel at one point. Repugnant played together again briefly in 2010 for a festival.

Subvision and Magna Carta Cartel

From 2002 to 2008, Forge was the singer and guitarist for the pop rock band Subvision. Other members of this group, Martin Persner and Gustaf Lindström, later joined Ghost. Subvision released two smaller recordings (EPs) and one album, So Far So Noir (2006). The band then broke up.

Forge, Persner, and Simon Söderberg (another future Ghost member) were also in the alternative rock band Magna Carta Cartel (MCC). This band was active from 2006 to 2010. Forge played guitar and bass, while Persner and Söderberg handled guitar and singing. The band took a break when all three started focusing on Ghost. Persner later left Ghost in 2016 and restarted Magna Carta Cartel.

Ghost: The Masked Band

Forge performing as Papa Emeritus I in 2012

Since 2006, Tobias Forge has been the main songwriter and leader of the rock and heavy metal band Ghost. This band helped him become very famous after many years of playing in smaller bands. When Ghost performs live, Forge is the singer.

Ghost is known for its changing lead singers. Each album features a "new" singer. These characters include Papa Emeritus I, II, III, and IV, who are like demonic anti-popes. There is also Cardinal Copia, who later became Papa Emeritus IV. A former bandmate of Martin Persner, Peter Hällje, said he created the Papa Emeritus character in 2005. Hällje never performed as the character but allowed Persner to use it for his new band, Ghost. For Ghost's recorded music, Forge often plays most of the instruments himself, in addition to singing. For example, he said that the 2010 debut album, Opus Eponymous, was recorded only with a session drummer and himself.

In 2012, during a concert in Ghost's hometown in Sweden, Papa Emeritus I seemed to retire and was replaced by Papa Emeritus II. However, this was actually Tobias Forge in a different costume. The band's second album, Infestissumam, came out in 2013. Because of a legal issue over the band's name, they had to release this album as "Ghost B.C." in the United States. Forge performed as Papa Emeritus II for this album and the next EP, If You Have Ghost (2013).

Papa Emeritus III was introduced in 2015 when the band's third album, Meliora, was released. Papa Emeritus III retired at the end of Ghost's 2016–2017 Popestar Tour. He was even physically pulled off stage at the final show! A new character, Papa Emeritus Zero (now called Papa Nihil), was introduced right after. Forge is listed as Papa Nihil on the two-song release Seven Inches of Satanic Panic. The band says this was recorded in 1969. For Ghost's fourth album, Prequelle (2018), Forge used another new character, Cardinal Copia. During the last show of A Pale Tour Named Death, Cardinal Copia was officially named Papa Emeritus IV.

One of Ghost's main themes was keeping the identities of its members secret. However, Tobias Forge's identity as Papa Emeritus was revealed in April 2017. This happened because some former Ghost members had a disagreement about money they felt they were owed. They also claimed he was trying to turn Ghost into a solo project with hired musicians. Forge disagreed with this. He said that Ghost was always meant to be like a band where the live performers were not necessarily the same people who played on the records. Forge stated that there was never a legal partnership between him and the other members. He said they were paid a set salary to perform and act out the band's image as he directed, as "musicians for hire."

Other Projects

Forge performing as Papa Emeritus III in 2016

Tobias Forge has also worked on music projects outside of Ghost. As Papa Emeritus III, he was a guest on a special vinyl version of "House of Doom" by the band Candlemass in May 2018. As Cardinal Copia, he performed live with members of Candlemass and Vargas and Lagola. They played "Enter Sandman" for King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Silvia of Sweden. This was during a ceremony in June 2018 honoring Metallica with the Polar Music Prize.

Cardinal Copia also appeared on the song "I'm Not Afraid" from Emigrate's album A Million Degrees in November 2018. On January 22, 2021, Papa Emeritus IV joined the Hellacopters on a Swedish TV game show. They performed a cover of "Sympathy for the Devil". Papa Emeritus IV also visited Guaranteed Rate Field in September 2022. He threw out the first pitch at a baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians. Forge also appeared in the last episode of the Netflix series Clark in May 2022.

Personal Life

Tobias Forge is married and has twins, a son named Morris and a daughter named Minou. Minou sings on "Ashes," the first song on Ghost's album Prequelle. Morris is featured on Ghost's cover of the Metallica song "Enter Sandman." Forge recorded this song to support Camp Aranu'tiq, a summer camp for transgender young people.

His older brother, Sebastian, was thirteen years older than him and had a big influence on him. Sebastian introduced him to movies and music like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kim Wilde, Rainbow, Kiss, and Mötley Crüe when Tobias was very young. Sadly, Sebastian died from heart disease on March 12, 2010. This was the same day that Ghost released their first demo songs online.

Forge has said that as a teenager, he felt drawn to darker themes. He mentioned that a strict stepmother and a very strict religious schoolteacher made him feel like he was running "headfirst into the arms of the devil." Tobias Forge is also a member of the Swedish Order of Freemasons.

Discography

See also

In Spanish: Tobias Forge para niños