GHOST Scores Third 'Mainstream Rock Songs' No. 1 With 'Dance Macabre'

According to Billboard, GHOST has landed its third consecutive No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart with its latest single, "Dance Macabre".

The second single from the band's 2018 album "Prequelle" follows "Rats", which topped the chart for seven weeks beginning last July.

GHOST scored its first No. 1 — for two weeks — in 2017 with "Square Hammer", the opening track from its "Popestar" EP.

Simultaneously apocalyptic with catchy, contagious hooks, "Dance Macabre" tells of how some people coped with the devastation of 14th century Europe's Black Plague that wiped out millions — by dancing and partying and seducing until they dropped. The accompanying music video puts its own twist on the celebration of the End of Days and beyond.

GHOST leader Tobias Forge told the 102.9 The Buzz radio station that he had a specific sound in mind when he wrote the track.

"'Dance' sounds the way it does because [of] its placement in the record," he explained. "I wrote that song [and] included that in the record because it was needed. If you do the cinematic comparison, we needed a car chase in the film, so we wrote that in. That's the only song that sounds like that. There's different scenes, different songs. That's how I like to write records — to have every song be a special little chapter and a special little color. In order to get the full gist of this [meal], you need to eat all ten [courses], ending with the dessert in the end, to get that full journey."

GHOST's 2019 is already packed with international touring, including a four-month run opening for METALLICA this summer, arena shows in Europe, festival gigs in Australia and more. Although Forge has mused about doing an EP this year, those plans seem to be on hold for now.

In December, GHOST nabbed two Grammy nominations, "Best Rock Album" for "Prequelle" and "Best Rock Song" for "Rats".

Three years ago, GHOST became the first Swedish rock band ever to win a Grammy — 2016's "Best Metal Performance" for the song "Cirice".