Canadian rockers who fit pop sensibilities into their sonic onslaught, ensuring plenty of airplay and a rabid fan base, few bands did more than
Nickelback to establish the force of slick, commercially minded post-grunge in the 2000s. Led by vocalist
Chad Kroeger, the band initially emerged in the late '90s as Canada's answer to
Creed, prizing a blend of gruff vocals and distorted (yet radio-friendly) guitars. After a handful of singles failed to gain much traction in Canada, "How You Remind Me" caught hold in 2001, eventually topping the charts in several countries while gathering four Grammy nominations and four Juno Awards.
Nickelback's popularity only grew as the decades progressed, with chart-topping albums like
The Long Road and
All the Right Reasons effectively eclipsing those acts that had once informed their sound. By the time the band released their ninth long-player, 2017's
Feed the Machine, they had sold over 50 million albums worldwide.
Chad Kroeger honed his frontman skills by performing with cover bands in Hanna, a small Canadian town 215 kilometers northeast of Calgary. After growing tired of playing other people's songs, he borrowed money from his stepfather and relocated to Vancouver, where he recorded his first batch of original material.
Mike Kroeger,
Chad's bass-playing sibling, decided to join his brother's band, as did fellow Vancouver transplants
Ryan Peake (a guitarist who had befriended the Kroegers in middle school) and
Ryan Vikedal (a drummer from
Peake's hometown of Brooks, Alberta).
Nickelback officially took shape in 1995 and quickly set to work, releasing two albums -- the Hesher EP and full-length album
Curb -- in 1996. By 1998, the bandmates were managing themselves;
Chad courted radio stations, brother
Mike handled distribution,
Vikedal booked shows, and
Peake maintained the band's website.
January 2000 saw the arrival of
The State,
Nickelback's second independent release. Issued at a time in which Canadian content requirements were increased (and, accordingly, local radio stations had begun to desperately seek out homegrown product), the album fared very well on indie charts.
Nickelback toured ceaselessly in support of
The State, logging approximately 200 shows while playing alongside other groups of the burgeoning post-grunge genre. Their commercial appeal wasn't lost on the record industry, either, and
The State's distribution rights were quickly snapped up by Roadrunner Records in the U.S. and
EMI in Canada. As the band continued to tour,
Kroeger kept writing new songs, many of which were polished in front of live audiences. Much of that material found its way onto
Silver Side Up, which was produced by
Rick Parashar (who rose to prominence in the early '90s by helming
Pearl Jam's
Ten,
Alice in Chains'
Sap, and
Blind Melon's self-titled debut) and recorded at Green House, the same Vancouver studio used for
The State's creation. The combination of
Nickelback's growing popularity and
Kroeger's focused songwriting propelled
Silver Side Up onto album charts across the world, spearheaded by the hit single "How You Remind Me."
Kroeger capitalized on that exposure by producing another Vancouver-based band,
Default, and collaborating with
Saliva's
Josey Scott for the
Spider-Man soundtrack.
The Long Road then arrived in 2003, featuring an increasingly polished sound and another high-charting single, "Someday." While some listeners criticized the apparent similarities between "Someday" and "How You Remind Me,"
The Long Road had little trouble maintaining
Nickelback's wide audience, eventually selling over five million copies worldwide.
In February 2005,
Nickelback announced the departure of
Vikedal. He was soon replaced by
3 Doors Down's former drummer
Daniel Adair, and
Nickelback returned to
Kroeger's studio in Vancouver to begin work on another album.
ZZ Top's
Billy Gibbons and
Pantera's
Dimebag Darrell (who unfortunately died before the album's release) were guests on the chart-topping
All the Right Reasons, which arrived in October 2005. It proved to be
Nickelback's most popular effort to date, remaining in the Billboard Top 30 for over two years and selling over seven million copies in the U.S. alone. It also spawned five Top 20 singles, a feat that attracted the attention of veteran producer (and demonstrated hitmaker)
Mutt Lange.
Nickelback traveled to
Lange's home in Switzerland to share songwriting ideas; impressed with the results, they also enlisted him to helm their next album. Recorded in a converted Vancouver barn,
Dark Horse marked the band's sixth studio album upon its release in November 2008.
Nickelback's seventh studio album arrived nearly three years after the multi-platinum-selling
Dark Horse. The 11-track
Here and Now, which was preceded by the singles "Bottoms Up" and "When We Stand Together," hit the streets on November 21, 2011.
The following year
Kroeger began working on fellow Canadian rock star
Avril Lavigne's eponymous fifth album. Shortly after their working partnership began, they began dating and eventually married in early 2013. The band put together their first compilation,
The Best of Nickelback, Vol. 1, which appeared in November of 2013; the 19-track collection contained no new songs. In 2014, the band's contract with Roadrunner expired and they decided not to renew, signing instead with Universal Republic for their eighth album,
No Fixed Address. The album included a number of departures from
Nickelback's usual fare, including the radio-friendly "What Are You Waiting For?," the politicized "Edge of a Revolution," and "Got Me Runnin' 'Round," which featured a horn section and rapper
Flo Rida.
No Fixed Address appeared in November 2014, debuting at four on Billboard's Top 200 and generating rock radio hits in "Edge of a Revolution" and "Million Miles an Hour." As they worked on their ninth album in 2016,
Nickelback released a cover of
Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" and negotiated a switch from Republic to
BMG.
Feed the Machine, their first record for
BMG, was co-produced by
Chris Baseford (
Disturbed) and appeared in June 2017. The LP debuted at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200. Three years later the band issued an expanded 15th anniversary edition of 2005's multi-platinum-selling
All the Right Reasons. ~ Andrew Leahey