1996-Chad KroegerVocals, guitars
Mike KroegerBass
Ryan "Nik" VikedalDrums1996-2005
Ryan PeakeGuitar
Daniel AdairDrums2005-
Ever wondered where they can up with the name Nickelback? Mike Kroeger was working at Starbucks. The coffee products would cost $1.95 CAD, so he said to the customer when giving change: "Here's your nickel back."
The band is the subject of constant mockery. Among detractors, liking Nickelback is a mark of complacence, poor taste, and low standards. In the 2010s, this became a trendy putdown. Barack Obama read a "mean tweet" on Jimmy Kimmel Live that read, "Barack Obama is the Nickelback of presidents"; signs appeared at sporting events reading, "[opposing player or coach] likes Nickelback." Chad Kroeger embraced this criticism, saying it made their fanbase stronger.
They recorded a couple of independent records between 1996 and 1998. They spent those years touring their native Canada and building a strong fan base.
Chad Kroeger produced an album by the band Default, also Canadian (Vancouver), called Fallout (2001).
Chad Kroeger got in a lot of trouble as a kid. "I was thrown into a juvenile detention center when I was 14 for breaking into my junior high school 11 times," he said. "This really pissed me off!"
Mike Kroeger faves: golf, coffee, The Big Lebowski. They are all pretty big hockey fans, especially Mike, and performed/presented at the 2002 NHL Awards in Toronto. They gave Best Goalie to Patrick Roy.
There are a wide variety of influences at work in this band. Nik Vikedal is into jazz, whereas Mike Kroeger loves "heavy stuff."
In their early years Nickelback toured with several bands, including Creed, Sevendust, 3 Doors Down, and Fuel.
They went through three drummers before settling on Vikedal. The first was a cousin of the Kroegers who was in it for the family, not the "rock and roll dream," according to Chad.
Nickelback really benefited from Canadian Content. It's a policy in Canada that ensures 35% of everything on the radio is Canadian. The band is grateful because it helped make room for them.
Chad loves video games and role-playing games. His favorite is Fable for the Xbox, as he stated in an interview with Electric Playground.
Chad and Mike Kroeger have the same mother but different fathers. Chad, who is two years younger than Mike, was born with the last name Turton but used the last name Kroeger since childhood.
In 2008, they signed what's known as a "360 Deal" with Live Nation, leaving Roadrunner Records, which is owned by Warner Brothers. Their contract covers recording, touring, and merchandising, and is estimated to be worth about $60 million.
Chad Kroeger began dating fellow Canadian
Avril Lavigne after they got together to co-write a song. The Nickelback frontman admitted to Los Angeles DJ Ryan Seacrest it was clear he and Lavigne had feelings for each other when they started working together in the studio. "I think it evolved into this wonderful thing," he said. "When you're sitting there, singing across from somebody into the microphone and singing love songs and you start developing these feelings for that person, and it just blossomed into this thing."
Chad, Mike, and Ryan all met and started playing together in Hannah, AB. Daniel is from Vancouver, BC.
Chad Kroeger took a $4000 loan from his stepfather so Nickelback could record their first EP, Hesher. However, only half the money went towards recording the record; the other half went to buying magic mushrooms.
Apparently, we've been mispronouncing Chad and Mike Kroeger's second name all these years. It's Kroo-ger like
The Nightmare On Elm Street villain Freddy Krueger, not Kroh-ger. "It's [Kroo-ger], don't trust the internet," he told
Loudwire Nights host Toni Gonzalez. "If I just stop and go, 'Actually, it's Kroo-ger,' I'm gonna look like such a d--k. So, I'm just like whatever, I don't care."
Chad Kroeger writes hits two ways: melody first or line first. Sometimes a riff or melody comes to him on guitar, and he pairs it with lyrics saved on his phone; little taglines or hooklines collected over the years. Other times, he'll hear a phrase or idea and build the music around it. The magic happens when both parts line up perfectly. Those become the song's core punch.
Chad Kroeger constantly steals lines from everyday conversation, saving potential hook phrases in his phone. Like many writers, he has thousands of these taglines saved, waiting to be matched with the right music.
