It has been 20 years since Tobias Forge formed Ghost. It’s been 15 years since the release of their groundbreaking debut album, Opus Eponymous (2010). Now, two decades in, the Grammy-winning frontman is “exhausted,” so he’s hitting pause.
In a new interview with Kerrang! magazine, Forge discussed where he’s at in the wake of completing the “Skeletour”, supporting the band’s latest album, Skeletá (2025).
“There’s a lot of people depending on you, let alone all these people buying tickets,” he shared. “For most of my career, I’ve been very triggered by that, in a positive way. But now, with a lack of a clear direction of where to go, I don’t want to have that responsibility on my shoulder. I can carry that when I’m there, but when I’m not there, it’s too tiresome.”
Ghost recently unveiled their ‘2 Big To Rig’ IMAX concert film, which is now playing in theaters
The “Skeletour” began in Europe in April 2025 and ran worldwide. It eventually concluded in the United States in February 2026. Understandably, Forge is wiped out. Speaking candidly, he told the outlet that the tour was “pretty much as close as you can get” to a perfect ending.
“When you’re done with the big wedding, you’re not gonna get married again immediately after,” he continued, then dropping what some fans might see as a bomb: “I don’t want to call it a bookend, but it serves as a great finale.”
“I feel like, ‘If this is it, I’m pretty pleased. This is a f**king great repertoire, great band, they sound phenomenal,’” Forge added. “We managed to do this awesome show most of the nights, and I couldn’t be happier.”
The heavy metal singer also shared some insight into how he was feeling near the end of the trek. “Everything was great up until the moment when I was sort of eyeing the end of a tour and not knowing for the first time in our career what to do next,” Forge shared. “And that was kind of the get-the-f**k-out-of-Dodge card, which is: I’m not gonna just go back to make an album or force myself to make an album for no reason. I need to want to make a record. I need to have something to say.”
It’s unclear if Ghost is over, but Forge doesn’t seem keen on keeping the band going right now
Forge went on to say, “Every other record has been very inspired. And there’s been a clear thought. There’s been a purpose. And that was completely generated by my passion to do so — it was never contractual fulfillment or whatever. It was nothing like that. And this time around it was just like, ‘I don’t have an idea.’”
Finally, he added, “I just want to do other things, and it doesn’t really mean anything other than that, but it also means that, no, we don’t have anything in the books, and yeah, it’s just a normal hiatus.”
Photo by Miikka Skaffari/FilmMagic
The post Heavy Metal Frontman Hits Pause on Grammy-Winning Band He Founded After 20 Years: ‘I’m Exhausted’ appeared first on VICE.
