Has Ghost’s Papa Emeritus IV Played His Final Show? See What Happened at Tour Closer

It looks like we're ready for a new Ghost era, as Papa Emeritus IV has played his final show with the band. But unlike past eras of the band, this Papa Emeritus simply retired without some grand theatrical farewell.

As seen in fan shot footage below, Papa Emeritus IV addressed the crowd toward the end of the band's final show of their touring cycle in Brisbane, Australia earlier this month. It has long been tradition that the Ghost band leader has often been removed in surprising fashion on the final date of the tour, often with a successor emerging and giving leader Tobias Forge a new storyline to play with as a new album and tour cycle is broached.

"It's a big night in so many ways," the current Papa Emeritus announced from the stage. ""I'm going to let you accompany me, you can stay where you are and I'm going to go have a little bit of a drink over here," before traversing to an area to grab himself a drink.

"I know a lot of people are expecting some sort of explosion, implosion, a miracle where I just disappear in favor of a successor," said Papa, adding, "I'm going to take this ice cube and I'm going to put it down my pants. I usually don't do that, but that is to make me feel a little bit better because now I'm focusing on that and not on you."

"Just in case you thought I was pissing myself, which I'm sure would have been the great finale. But you know what? This finale, it's just going to be my last show, and I'm going to do my best to deliver that show to you. And that would just have to be enough, OK?," he concluded.

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Ghost's most recent album was 2022's Impera, but the band kept things going through 2023 by issuing the Phantomime covers EP earlier this year. And while it seems Papa Emeritus IV will not be part of future touring, fans can still relish some of his performances in the currently in-the-works Ghost film that will include performance footage from the band's Los Angeles shows earlier this fall.

Ghost's Papa Emeritus IV Plays His Final Show