Nickelback

Nickelback

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This article is about the Canadian rock band. For the American football position, see Nickelback (American football).

Nickelback is a Canadian rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. The band is composed of guitarist and lead vocalistChad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adair. The band went through a few drummer changes between 1995 and 2005, achieving its current form when Adair replaced drummer Ryan Vikedal.

Nickelback is one of the most commercially successful Canadian groups, having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide[2]and ranking as the eleventh best-selling music act, and the second best-selling foreign act in the U.S. of the 2000s, behind The Beatles.[3][4] Billboard ranks them the top rock group of the decade, and their hit song "How You Remind Me" was listed as the top rock song of the decade and the fourth song of the decade. They were listed number seven on the Billboard top artist of the decade, with four albums listed on the Billboard top albums of the decade.[5]

The band signed with Roadrunner Records in 1999 and re-released their once-independent album The State.[6] The band achieved commercial success with the release of their 2000 album The State and then they achieved mainstream success with the release of their 2001 album Silver Side Up.[7] Following the release of Silver Side Up the band released their biggest and most known hit today, "How You Remind Me" which peaked number 1 on the American and Canadian charts at the same time.[8]Then, the band's 4th album The Long Road spawned 5 singles and continued the band's mainstream success with their hit single "Someday" which peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 at the Canadian Singles Chart.[9]Afterwards, the band put out their biggest album to date, All The Right Reasons which produced 3 top 10 singles and 5 top 20 singles, on the Billboard Hot 100 example of songs like "Photograph", "Far Away", and "Rockstar".[8] The band's Dark Horsealbum was a success which produced eight singles, one of which peaked on the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and two of which peaked on the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band recently released their 2011 album, Here and Now which again topped the charts.[10] The band has won numerous awards including 12 Juno Awards among 28 nominations.[11]

The band is based in Vancouver, Canada. The band's original domestic signing was with EMI Canada. They subsequently obtained an American deal with global distribution via Roadrunner Records. For the release of their seventh album, the band parted from EMI Canada and signed a new Canadian domestic distribution deal with Universal Music Canada.[12]

History

Curb and The State (1995–2000)

The band was formed in the early 1990s as a cover band called the "Village Idiots" by Chad Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Mike Kroeger, and Brandon Kroeger. The band performed covers of songs from Led Zeppelin and Metallica. Chad Kroeger then asked his step-father to give him $4,000 so that the band could record their first demo, which was Hesher (EP).[13] The band's name originates from the nickel in change that band member Mike Kroeger gave customers at his job at Starbucks; he would frequently say, "Here's your nickel back."[14][15]Nickelback's first release was a seven-track EP called Hesher in 1996.[15] In the same year, they also recorded their first full-length album Curb. "Fly" was included on both Hesherand Curb and was the first single produced by Nickelback. In 1997, Brandon Kroeger left the band and the band searched for a new drummer.[citation needed] Later that year Mitch Guindon joined the band, but he decided to leave in 1998 because he started working in a car company.[citation needed] In Summer 1998, Ryan Vikedal joined the band.

Roadrunner A&R Ron Burman told HitQuarters that one of his West Coast scouts sent him the self-released album and, suitably impressed, he travelled to Vancouver to see them perform live. Although an unknown property in the industry at the time, the venue was packed out. In Burman's words: "I immediately got the chills! I thought their song "Leader of Men" was a smash hit."[16] Off the stage he was impressed by their industry and initiative in managing their career: Despite this, it still took Burman three months for him to convince his label bosses to approve the signing, a decision that would mark Roadrunner's first move into mainstream rock.[16] Nickelback signed a record deal with EMI and Roadrunner Records in 1999.

The State, was released by Nickelback in 2000 by Roadrunner Records and EMI Canada. The State, was released in Europe in 2001. It spawned 4 singles: "Old Enough", "Worthy To Say", "Leader of Men" and "Breathe", the last two being Top 10 rock hits. The album was certified platinum status in 2008, after the success of their later albums.[17] The album entered the Billboard 200 albums charts in position number 130 and peaked at number 3 in the Billboard Top Heatseekers albums chart and peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Top Independent albums chart.[18]

Silver Side Up, The Long Road (2001–04)

Around 2001 Chad Kroeger started "studying every piece, everything sonically, everything lyrically, everything musically, chord structure. I would dissect every single song that I would hear on the radio or every song that had ever done well on a chart and I would say, 'Why did this do well?'" Nickelback's single How You Remind Me, Kroeger told Bliss, sold so well because it was about romantic relationships, a universal subject, and contained memorable hooks.[19]

To record their third album Silver Side Up, Nickelback collaborated with producer Rick Parashar. The album was written before the release The State and was recorded at the same studio.[20] The disc was released on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The album peaked number 2 on the Billboard 200 with over 177,000 copies sold in its first week and peaked number 1 at the Canadian albums chart making the band's first album to do so.[21] The single "How You Remind Me" was a number one single on the Mainstream and Modern rock charts, as well as the pop chart.[citation needed] It also peaked at number two on Adult Top 40and became the Billboard Hot 100 number one single of the year for 2002. The next single was "Too Bad", which also reached number one on the Mainstream Rock Chart.[citation

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