Papa Emeritus II 'unmasked' by Behemoth Nergal

Behemoth's Nergal Darski has apparently revealed the true identity of Ghost singer Papa Emeritus II.

The members of Ghost go to great lengths to keep their real identities private. But many fans have described Papa Emeritus II’s identity as the worst-kept secret in rock – with rumours strongly suggesting for years that he is Swede Tobias Forge of Magna Carta Cartel.

Nergal has posted an Instagram picture of himself backstage with Tobias at Fortarock festival in the Netherlands, where Ghost and Behemoth played on the same stage, one after the other.

The photo is accompanied by the caption:”If you have ghosts…U have everything ;-)” The line is a lyric from Roky Erickson song If You Have Ghosts, which Ghost covered last year.

It has once again fuelled rumours that Tobias – who also played in Repugnant and Subvision – is Papa Emeritus II.

Of course, Darski’s playful tone could suggest he is simply toying with fans.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.