Filling the void where pop meets Satanic metal, the Swedish band Ghost have been shaking up the rock scene since their unholy debut in 2010. Fast-forward twelve years, and the controversial superstars are still sailing at top speed, luring new victims into their obscene spiderweb of mismatched sound and going viral for their inimitable, blasphemous music.
When the band performed their latest single, “Mary On A Cross” live in Tampa, Florida in 2022, the video racked up over 72 million views. And despite the blinding sacrilege, horror tropes, and a cult-like audience smattered with gothic nuns and corpse-painted metalheads, this performance ended up being one of the most wholesome heavy metal moments we’ve ever seen here at The Music Man.
As Ghost sing the classic lines, “You go down just like Holy Mary / Mary on a cross / If you choose to run away with me / I will tickle you internally / And I see nothing wrong with that,” the camera pans to show the wild diversity of Ghost’s audience: old-school metalheads, teens, and everyone in between united in an oddly touching musical moment.
It’s vids like this which prove the cult of rock music lives on, despite what the charts suggest. Fans have flocked to the YouTube comments section to detail the scene from inside the crowd, writing, “I was in the pit, and they got so close it felt like a dream the crowd was so harmonized it blew my mind,” others reminiscing, “this concert was so life-changing” and “it looks like what it is… a religious experience.”
“Mary On A Cross” first appeared on Ghost’s 2019 EP, “Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic.” It’d be easy to think a band this blasphemous would fail to see the commercial light. But following five studio albums and over a decade of ultra-theatrical concerts casting bandmates as nameless, faceless ghouls fronted by a Satanic pope, Ghost’s rare breed of shock rock-meets-stadium pop has totally breached the mainstream, amassing tens of millions of views across innumerable music videos, live clips, and fan-uploaded lyric vids. “Mary On A Cross” even made waves on TikTok, drawing droves of new alternative fans to the Swedish band’s back catalogue after a slowed-reverb remix went viral.
Frontman Tobias Forge has revealed to Metal Injection that Ghost has a new, sixth studio album in the works. But before it drops, Ghost will be spending their summer on the road; 56 concerts currently scheduled for the Ghost World Tour 2025 if you fancy joining an epic crowd like in this viral clip!
Ghost continues to redefine the boundaries of rock with their distinctive blend of pop and Satanic metal, captivating audiences worldwide. Their live performance of “Mary On A Cross” not only amassed millions of views but also showcased the band’s unique ability to unite diverse fans in a shared, unforgettable experience. Dive deeper into Ghost’s unconventional world by exploring the links below.