Nickelback is a post-grunge band known for its gruff vocals and distorted guitar sound. Nickelback originally consisted of vocalist Chad Kroeger, bassist Mike Kroeger, guitarist Ryan Peake and drummer Ryan Vikedal. They were formed in the mid-1990s in Hanna, Canada. They started out as a cover band but eventually started writing and recording some original music.
In 1996, they released two albums, the "Hesher" EP and "Curb". While they were still managing themselves and independently releasing music, Nickelback released "The State," which did well on the indie charts, sold about 500,000 copies and went gold in the United States. One song on this album, “Leader of Men,” was well-played on Canadian radio stations. The band went on tour and played at 200 shows and opened for bands like Creed and Silverchair. This led to the band being signed by Roadrunner Records in the U.S. and EMI in Canada.
Nickelback showed that they were influenced by Nirvana and Pearl Jam in their song “How You Remind Me,” which was released in 2001. This song was a huge success and signified how the new sound of rock music in the early 90s was alt-rock.
Nickelback was becoming even more popular in the early 2000s, which is when they released "Silver Side Up," which showcased frontman Chad Kroeger’s songwriting. The album became an international hit on the charts, mainly led by the single, “How You Remind Me.”
Some of Nickelback’s other hits include “Someday,” “How You Remind Me,” “Photograph,” “Savin’ Me,” “Far Away” and “Rockstar.” The Rockstar music video has a variety of famous celebrity cameos including Kid Rock, Gene Simmons, Nelly Furtado and Lupe Fiasco.
Nickelback has received some criticism for their songs sounding similar to each other. The songs “Someday” and “How You Remind Me” were accused of sounding so similar that when someone on the Internet made a track that played them together, they synced up almost perfectly.
Nickelback got six Grammy nominations and Juno Awards for categories like Best New Group, Best Group, Best Single and Best Rock Album. They’ve also had wins at the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and the Much Music Video Awards.
