Ghost’s Impera Takes Rock Album Category at American Music Awards
By this point, it shouldn’t really shock anyone that Ghost, one of the biggest bands on the planet right now, are winning awards. They’ve won multiple Grammis (the Swedish GRAMMYs), taken multiple Bandit Rock Awards, and even netted a GRAMMY for “Cirice,” but their latest win at the American Music Awards is particularly special. That’s because it’s the first time rock’s even had a category at the AMAs.
For those that don’t know, the American Music Awards are voted on by the fans, with winners in each of the 37 categories chosen through that vote. Nominees, however, are selected based on their placement on the Billboard charts, with an emphasis on streaming, album and song sales, as well as radio air time and gross tour revenues.
With those criteria in mind, it only makes sense that the biggest bands/tours made the AMAs’ first rock categories. Ghost were up against the following artists for the Favorite Rock Album category:
- Coldplay – Music Of The Spheres
- Imagine Dragons – Mercury: Act 1
- Machine Gun Kelly – Mainstream Sellout
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – Unlimited Love
There to accept the award was Papa Emeritus himself, Tobias Forge, though you wouldn’t know that if you were at the red carpet prior to the event. That’s because for some reason the absolutely clueless photographers called him “Mr. Ghost,” which is absolutely hilarious and probably going to stick as a nickname around these parts.
Do these awards matter to the average fan? They shouldn’t. But to a band and to the genre as a whole, wider recognition is always a good thing. So congrats, Ghost. Impera is one hell of an album.
