Canada's
Nickelback started life as a cover
band in
Hanna, 215
kilometers northeast of
Calgary. Eventually, they tired of playing other people's songs, and singer/guitarist
Chad Kroeger put together a
collection of original songs, borrowed 4000
bucks from his stepfather, and went to
Vancouver to
record the band in a friend's studio.
In 1996, they recorded and released the EP Hesher and full-length Curb independently, then embarked on a series of cross-country
tours. In late 1998, the bandmembers started managing themselves, with
Chad handling all the
radio tracking, brother
Mike Kroeger the distribution, and
Ryan Vikedal all the bookings. A second LP, The State, was released independently in January 2000. It eventually sold an impressive 500,000 copies.
Many of the songs that comprised the third album,
Silver Side Up, were written even before The State was released in
America and road-tested in
front of eager audiences on cross-country treks. "Too
Bad" pertained to the father who was never around when
Chad and his brother were
growing up; "Never Again" was a song
inspired by broken homes; and "How You Remind Me," the first single from the album, was written at rehearsals shortly before
the band went into
the studio.
The more
polished The
Long Road arrived in 2003. The album sold five million copies worldwide and was supported by another successful
international tour.
In October 2005, the chart-topping, All the Right Reasons was released.
; "Chad Kroeger")
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