GHOST's 'Mary On A Cross' Single Certified Gold In U.S.

On November 30, GHOST's "Mary On A Cross" single was certified gold by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) for accumulating 500,000 certified units.

According to the RIAA, one equivalent song unit is equal to a single digital song sale, or 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams.

"Mary On A Cross" is the fourth GHOST single to achieve gold status this year. This past June, "Cirice" (from GHOST's third album, 2015's "Meliora"),"Dance Macabre" (from 2018's "Prequelle") and "Square Hammer" (from 2016's "Popestar" EP) were also certified gold. These marked GHOST's first RIAA certifications.

In September, GHOST scored its first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Mary On A Cross". The song, which was originally released as a two-track single in 2019 via Loma Vista/Concord (alongside "Kiss The Go-Goat"),debuted at No. 90 on the chart with six million U.S. streams and 1,000 downloads sold, according to Billboard.

"Mary On A Cross" had been gaining traction after a TikTok user used a slowed down version of the song to soundtrack a short video about the Netflix show "Stranger Things". Since then, the "Mary On The Cross" hashtag has amassed over one billion TikTok views and the song was used to soundtrack tens of thousands of videos on the platform. GHOST later released the official slowed down version of "Mary On A Cross" with added reverb.

Six of GHOST's albums have charted on the Billboard 200: "Infestissumam" (No. 28, 2013); "If You Have Ghost" EP (No. 87, 2013); "Meliora" (No. 8, 2015); "Popestar" EP (No. 16, 2016); "Prequelle" (No. 3, 2018); and "Impera" (No. 2, 2022). Nine GHOST songs have charted on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, with five reaching No. 1: "Square Hammer" in 2017; "Rats" in 2018; "Dance Macabre" in 2019; and "Hunter's Moon" and "Call Me Little Sunshine" in 2022.

In September, GHOST scored its first-ever Top 40 single in the U.K. with "Mary On A Cross".

GHOST's fifth album, "Impera" sold 70,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked the third top 10 album — and fifth top 40-charting set — for the Swedish act.

"Impera" landed at position No. 1 in Germany and Sweden, No. 2 in the U.K., Netherlands, Belgium and Norway, No. 3 in Australia, No. 5 in France and Ireland, and No. 20 in Italy.

"Impera" was released on March 11. The 12-song effort was produced by Klas Åhlund and mixed by Andy Wallace.

GHOST leader Tobias Forge worked on the follow-up to 2018's "Prequelle" with Åhlund and Swedish co-writers Salem Al Fakir and Vincent Pontare, whose credits include Madonna and Lady Gaga.

Regarding his collaboration with Åhlund, Al Fakir and Pontare, as well as OPETH's Fredrik Åkesson who was brought in to sharpen the album's guitar attack, Forge recently told St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "I found that I can work really well with someone I respect, who is always pushing for the best. They make me want to write better, to get my game up a little."

Forge performed as a "new" Papa Emeritus on each of the band's first three LPs, with each version of Papa replacing the one that came before it. Papa Emeritus III was retired in favor of Cardinal Copia before the release of "Prequelle".

Photo credit: Mikael Eriksson