Ghost become first hard rock band to top US charts in four years
Ghost have become the first hard rock band to secure a number one album in the US in four years, with their latest record Skeletá.
The album landed at the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart in the first week since its release on April 25th, having sold 86,000 units. 77,000 of these came from traditional record sales, while 44,000 could be accounted for in vinyl purchases.
This made Skeletá the first hard rock album to top the US charts since AC/DC’s effort Power Up, released in November 2020. Not only this, but the record comes as the biggest-selling rock vinyl since records began in 1991, beating out the previous high set by Blink-182’s One More Time… in 2023.
Despite this, the success of Ghost’s latest effort has been purely one-sided, as the album failed to chart at all in the UK.
The Swedish rock band have set out on a new era with the release of Skeletá, marking the first outing of new frontman, Papa V Perpetua.
However, the album hasn’t come without its share of controversy, as in its review of the record, Far Out said: “The all-too-familiar sound of Ghost feels less like a considered attempt at refining a signature style this time and more like someone scrambling to rekindle a flame long lost in the ashes of Impera.”
The band are currently on the road with their 2025 world tour. They have already stopped in venues across the UK, including the O2 Arena in London last month, and are now set to tour across the Europe and North America in the coming months, with their next gig taking place at the Uber Arena in Berlin on May 7th.
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