Ghost

Story of Song

‘Ghost’ is a metaphor for something that’s got a hold of you, but don’t call it a break-up song. Ella told the story behind ‘Ghost’ in an interview with (Between the Lines) video series on Metrolyrics. “Writing ‘Ghost’ was definitely an experience that was very surprising because it never really meant to happen. I’ve been writing for almost two years, and I came towards the end of my writing record and I almost stopped all of my sessions. And I uploaded a Drake cover online, and Ryan heard it and he got in touch with the record label and they would go back and forth. His emails were hilarious, I read some of them. They had a lot of swear words in them of excitement… saying that he wanted to meet me and to write with me potentially, you know… he loved my voice. So when he came over to the UK we met each other in the studio, and we met on the terms of you know… just to have some dinner, grab a few drinks and see if we got along and he did wanna write with me, and I think that’s a really important part of the process especially for someone like Ryan because he’s very particular with who he chooses to write with. But when we met it was really weird, it was like 2 old friends catching up. His personality was just like bouncing off the walls, he’s like ‘Tigger’ from Winnie the Pooh, and I’m quite chilled in the studio environment and together it was really nice. We had some dinner and then literally within 20 minutes I don’t know how it happened, we ended up sat on the piano and this chorus called ‘Ghost’ happened.” Ella added: “’Ghost’ came about as a metaphor for something that’s got a hold of you… you can’t eat, you can’t sleep. It’s something that’s just niggling away in your head when you’re trying to overcome something… and that can relate to so many people in so many different ways. I think a lot of people thought I’d gone through this heart break-up of a bad relationship that ended awfully. But no, it was literally that but kind of spared it, but you know… it can relate to someone or something that’s haunting you.”

Release date

Released on June 6, 2014.

Songwriter/s

Ella Henderson – Ryan Tedder – Kenan Williams – Noel Zancanella

Label

Syco

Chart Rankings

US – 21

UK – 1

GERMANY  – 3

‘Ghost’ topped the UK Singles Charts and became the sixth best selling song of 2014. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified it double platinum for sales over 600.000 copies. In the US, it peaked at number 21 and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales over one million copies. The song also topped the charts in Ireland and Scotland. ‘Ghost’ reached the top 10 charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, South Africa, and Switzerland.

It was certified platinum platinum in Australia and gold in Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland. It was streamed 2.6 million times in Denmark where the IFPI certified it platinum.

Artist’s age on release date

18

Cover Versions

Paul Akister – Leroy Sanchez – Connie Talbot – Andrea Faustini and Ella Henderson on The X Factor UK – Amateur artists also covered this song on YouTube