Nickelback

Formed: 1995, Hanna, AB
Debut: 1996
Genres: Rock, Grunge, Metal

Primary Members

Chad Kroeger (lead vocals, guitar)
Ryan Peake (vocals, guitar)
Mike Kroeger (bass)
Ryan Videdal (drums to 2005)
Daniel Adair (drums, 2005-Present)

Achievements

• Have sold 35 million records worldwide
• 4 albums 5x platinum or higher
• Star on the Walk of Fame (2007)
• Biggest song of 2002 in the U.S. (“How You Remind Me”)
• 2 songs in Billboard’s decade-end Top 100 (#4 “How You Remind Me” and #89 “Photograph”)
• Domestically: 14 Top 40 hits
• Worldwide: 22 Top 40 hits
• Won 12 of 31 Juno Nominations

Major Juno Awards

• Group of the Year 4 Times (2002, 2004, 2006, 2009)
• Song of the Year, “How You Remind Me”, 2002
• Album of the Year, Dark Horse, 2009

Studio Albums and Hit Singles*

1996: Curb

• Gold

2000: The State

• Platinum

2001: Silver Side Up

• 8x Platinum
• Hit Singles: “How You Remind Me” (#1 CA, US, IL, AT; #1 Billboard year-end chart; Juno for Song of the Year), “Too Bad” (#6 IL), “Never Again” (#30 UK)

2003: The Long Road

• 5x Platinum
• Hit Singles: “Someday” (#1 CA; #17 Billboard year-end chart), “Figured You Out” (#10 AL), “Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good” (#39 UK)

2005: All the Right Reasons

• 7x Platinum
• Hit Singles: “Photograph” (#1 CA; #43 and #38 Billboard year-end charts for 2005-06), “Animals” (#27 AL), “Savin’ Me” (#2 CA; #49 Billboard year-end chart), “Far Away” (#2 AL & NZ; #53 and #94 Billboard year-end chart 2006-07), “Rock Star” (#2 UK & IL; #36 Billboard year-end chart), “If Everyone Cared” (#7 CA; #50 Billboard year-end chart)

2008: Dark Horse

• 6x Platinum
• Juno for Album of the Year
• Hit Singles: “Gotta Be Somebody” (#4 CA; #27 CA year-end chart of 2009), “If Today Was Your Last Day” (#7 CA; #22 CA year-end chart of 2009), “I’d Come for You” (#20 NL), “Burn It to the Ground” (#7 FL), “Never Gonna Be Alone” (#25 CA), “This Afternoon” (#16 CA; #58 CA year-end chart of 2010)

2011: Here and Now

• 2x Platinum
• Hit Singles: “When We Stand Together” (#10 CA, 81st of 2012)

2014: No Fixed Address

• #2 Album (Billboard Canada Albums chart)
• Hit Singles: “Edge of a Revolution” (#34), “What Are You Waiting For?” (#29)

Other Related Singles

• “Hero” by Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott (#1 CA; #25 Billboard year-end chart)
• “Why Don’t You & I” by Chad Kroeger and Santana (#8 US)
• “Into the Night” by Chad Kroeger and Santana (#1 HU; #34 2008 year-end chart CA)

Legend: CA-Canada, US-United States, IL-Ireland, AL-Australia, AT-Austria, UK-United Kingdom, NZ-New Zealand, NL-Netherlands, FL-Finland, HU-Hungary

* Western countries with the highest chart position reported only.

With sales of over 35 million records, hard rockers Nickelback, has become one of the most successful bands from Canada. Though forming in the small Alberta town of Hanna (215 kilometres northeast of Calgary), they launched their recording career from Vancouver, and it took several years before they saw a breakthrough. The band’s lead singer, Chad Kroeger, worked at Starbucks and would often say, in giving customers their change, “Here’s your nickel back”. This is how the band got its name.

Beginnings

Chad was born in 1974 and taught himself how to play the guitar at age 13. He broke into his high school on several occasions to steal money and was eventually sent to a juvenile detention facility. He finished high school after being released and formed a cover band with his brothers and friends that played gigs in the early 90s. Eventually they broke up and reformed with new members settling on the name Nickelback in 1995. Kroeger was busy writing his own songs.

A year later, they relocated to Vancouver to see if they could record some of their material. In various studios around the metropolitan area, they recorded and self-released a seven-track EP called Hesher which has become a rare collectors’ item. The song “Try” was picked up by album-oriented rock station CFOX-FM, drawing professional interest and the band was able to release a full-length (self-released) album, Curb, later in the year.

A talent scout sent Ron Burman of Roadrunner Records a copy of the self-released album. Impressed with the recording, he travelled to Vancouver to see the band perform live. The venue was packed and Burman was taken with their song “Leader of Men”. It took him three months, however, to convince label executives to sign the band. The label normally signed less mainstream rock bands. Finally a deal with EMI in Canada and Roadrunner internationally was struck.

Their first non-independent album was The State, released in Y2K. Four singles released became minor hits but enough to drive up album sales to respectable levels. Nickelback toured with Creed and 3 Doors Down and won a Juno the following year for Best New Group.

Breakthrough

On the day that airplanes crashed into the so-called twin towers in New York, Nickelback’s album Silver Side Up was released.

The single “How You Remind Me” became the biggest song of the year in the U.S. and 4th biggest of the entire decade. It won the Juno for song of the year. The album was certified 8x Platinum in Canada with worldwide sales exceeding 10 million copies. The following year, Chad Kroeger was invited to perform a song for the film Spider-Man with Josey Scott of the American band Saliva. The song appeared on the year-end Billboard chart at #25. The same year (2002), the band received its first of four Juno awards for group of the year.

In 2003, The Long Road became Nickelback’s fourth album. “Someday” was the big hit, topping the charts at home and finishing as the 17th biggest song of the year in the United States. All the Right Reasons came next, two years later. Five of its singles made the top ten somewhere in the world. It was the band’s most successful album, slightly outselling Silver Side Up, with 11 million.

Chad Kroeger started his own record label, 604 Records, becoming executive producer. Ryan Videal left the band and was replaced with the drummer from 3 Doors Down, Daniel Adair. (Although 3 Doors Down is an American band, Adair is Canadian.) In 2007, Nickelback received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto.

Mutt Lange produced Nickelback’s next album, Dark Horse, released in 2008. The album won for the band their first Juno for album of the year. “Gotta Be Somebody” was the most successful single, peaking at #4. The band performed “Burn it to the Ground” during the closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. They went on tour that year.

Nickelback released a couple of singles in advance of their 2011 album Here and Now. “When We Stand Together” peaked at #10 on the weekly singles chart. The album became their 5th multi-platinum release.

Following Chad Kroeger’s assistance with Avril Lavigne’s self-titled 2013 album, the two married. Nickelback signed to record label Republic Records and released No Fixed Address in 2014 spawning two Top 40 hits.