Ghost frontman Tobias Forge joined The Hellacopters for a cover of The Rolling Stones classic “Sympathy for the Devil” Friday evening (January 22nd) on Swedish television. The performance aired as a segment on the På Spåret quiz show on Sweden’s national TV network SVT.
Forge, who has taken on a handful of identities as Ghost’s frontman over the years, retired his Cardinal Copia persona during the band’s only show of 2020, a March 3rd gig in Mexico City. That concert ended the tour cycle for their most recent album, Prequelle, and introduced Forge’s new guise, Papa Emeritus IV.
Performing as Papa Emeritus IV, Forge was backed by fellow Swedes The Hellacopters for the televised rendition of “Sympathy for the Devil”, a song with a title that fittingly sums up a central theme of Ghost’s music.
Unlike the ever-mobile Mick Jagger, Forge stood in the same spot for the duration of the song, delivering a haunting yet subdued vocal that built up to a mighty wail toward the end of the performance.
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While Ghost’s last concert came just before the pandemic shut down the concert industry, it was always meant as their only show of 2020. Forge blocked out the remaining months of the year to work on the band’s fifth album, which is tentatively scheduled for a fall 2021 release.
Watch Tobias Forge and the Hellacopters performing their cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” below.
