GHOST's TOBIAS FORGE On Performing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' For Members Of QUEEN: 'It Was A Lot To Think About'

In a new interview with Tom Power, host of "Q" on Canada's CBC Radio One, GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge spoke about the experience of performing the QUEEN classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" at last year's Polar Music Prize. The ceremony — which honored the legendary rock band QUEEN, American jazz great Herbie Hancock and Canadian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan — was held in May 2025 at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm and was broadcast live in Sweden on TV4. Joining Forge on stage for the performance was OPETH guitarist Fredrik Åkesson and ERIC ERICSONS KAMMARKÖR (the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir). Asked what it was like to perform a QUEEN song for members of the iconic band, Forge said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[Chuckles] Hard, hard, hard. Now we've done a few of the [songs] that you shouldn't do. [Laughs]"

Reflecting on how he ended up being approached to perform at last year's Polar Music Prize, Forge said: "We did play at the Polar Music Prize one time before [when METALLICA received the prize in 2018], and so Marie [Ledin, managing director of the Polar Music Prize and daughter of the award's founder, ABBA manager Stig 'Stikkan' Anderson], who's the bigwig, the main character in the Polar Music Prize committee, and she's the spokesperson and she the one that approached me the first time. It was, like, 'Yeah, you're friends with METALLICA, right?' 'Yeah.' 'Yeah. They're getting the prize.' 'Oh, great.' 'You wanna play?' 'Sure. No. What? Yes. But yeah. What? Uh, okay. Of course. I wanna be there. I wanna pay tribute, but what do you want us to do then?' And she's, like, 'I want you to play 'Enter Sandman'.' Oooooh. It's just one of those songs that you don't wanna play, because it's [like MOTÖRHEAD's] 'Ace Of Spades', it's like [DEEP PURPLE's] 'Smoke On The Water'. It's the one song that you don't wanna do, because it's one of the most played songs, most well-known songs. Everybody knows it. Everybody can hum along to it. And back then, I said, 'Well, I wanna do a rework of it. I wanna rework it and do a different version.' And that turned out pretty cool. And later it had meaning that went way beyond that award show. But this time around she asked the same question. She was, like, 'QUEEN's gonna get it. I want you to do this song, and I want that to be the big one.' I was, like, 'Goddamn, I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna play that song out of all.' I mean, I'm a good singer in my band. But I'm not Freddie Mercury, obviously, but there are these singers out there who can sing in any band, because they're just great singers in whatever they do. I am not that singer. I'm a great singer in GHOST. That's what I can do. If you want me to sing back-up in STRANGLERS, sure. But then you have to just take it like a big boy and just do it."

Regarding what it was like to actually be on that stage with members of QUEEN in the audience, Forge said: "Well, the first thing that happened in the days leading up to it, was that I had been on tour. So there was not a whole lot of time for us to rehearse. And so me and that the band that was playing, and Fredrik, my friend Fredrik from OPETH, who was playing guitar… I invited him because I wanted to have someone there just to be part of where I come from and who's my friend. And he was gonna have that sort of Brian May role. We had not played the song together. And what happens often when you play a cover, and especially when it's slightly a little bit more of a elaborate song — I mean, that song is not super hard if you just play one part of the time. It's stitching it all together and playing it in one whole — that is when it becomes hard because you have to really learn how to count, and you have to learn how to meticulously, almost like an acrobatical act, you have to sort of go back in time and, like, 'How did they think here? Why do they do that bit? And, oh, yeah, why did they always have the operatic bit on track?' Now I understand why. Because if you play the ballad bit and the rock bit and the ending, you're good. You're happy as a pig in shit. But if you do the whole thing from start to finish, that's a big fricking track. But we had the [Eric Ericson Chamber] choir guys, and they were so professional, so good. And the band had really done a great job to sort of decipher everything and played with swing. And so to answer your question, it was a lot to think about, remember everything. Not necessarily the words, but, yeah, well, words [as well]. Funnily enough, I don't know how many times I've sung along with that song. There's always things that you're, like, 'What does the lyrics say there? I did not know that.'"

Also performing at last year's Polar Music Prize gala was Adam Lambert, who has been touring the world for the past 14 years two surviving members of QUEEN — Brian May and Roger Taylor — under the QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT banner, as well as Miriam Bryant, former SKID ROW singer Erik Grönwall and jazz musicians Esperanza Spalding, Robert Glasper and Leo Genovese.

For three decades, the Polar Music Prize has honored and recognized pioneering musical legacy. The 2025 recipients added their names to the list of innovators from contemporary and classical music, winning one of the creative realm's most coveted modern accolades.

The Polar Music Prize is presented at a ceremony in Stockholm in the presence of the Swedish Royal Family, and each Laureate receives money of one million Swedish Krona (approximately $110,000 USD).

The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by Stig "Stikkan" Anderson, a true legend in the history of Swedish popular music. Stig Anderson was the publisher, lyricist and manager of ABBA, and he played a key role in their enormous success. The prize, named after Anderson's legendary record label Polar Music, celebrates the power and importance of music and is awarded to individuals, groups or institutions for international recognition of excellence in the world of music.

Last month GHOST canceled three shows on the 2026 North American leg of "Skeletour" — January 24 in Knoxville, January 25 in Charlotte and January 26 in Greenville — due to the state of emergency issued in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

The 2026 North American leg of GHOST's "Skeletour" world tour kicked off on January 21 at the Kia Center in Orlando, Florida and is slated to run through February 23 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California.

The European leg of GHOST's 2025 world tour kicked off on April 15, 2025 in Manchester, United Kingdom and concluded on May 24, 2025 in Oslo, Norway. The North American leg of GHOST's 2025 tour launched on July 9, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland and wrapped up on August 16, 2025 in Houston, Texas.

In May 2025, GHOST's latest album, "Skeletá", landed at position No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 86,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the LP's first week of release. According to Billboard, 89% of that figure (77,000) consisted of traditional album sales, with vinyl purchases accounting for over 44,000 copies. Notably, "Skeletá" was the first hard rock album to reach the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 since AC/DC's "Power Up" in 2020.

The music video for the LP's first single, "Satanized", introduced the new character who is fronting GHOST for its 2025 and 2026 touring cycles: Papa V Perpetua.