History of the Band

How did it all start?

Brothers, Chad and Mike Kroeger formed Nickelback in Vancouver in 1996 with their cousin Brandon (who is no longer in the band) and their buddy Ryan Peake. Chad Kroeger wrote lyrics while the rest of the guys worked together on the music. They came up with the name Nickelback from Mike Kroeger's cashier experience at Starbucks. Customers would pay $1.50 for a coffee that costs $1.45 - and Mike Kroeger would always have to give them "a nickel back."

Their Big Break

Nickelback put together and released a seven song demo titled Hesher and began supporting it with live gigs. In 1997, Nickelback released their debut CD, Curb and pushed the album with non-stop touring. Nickelback later went through a bunch of drummers until they hooked up with current drummer Ryan Vikedal, who was an old buddy of Ryan Peake's. In 1999, Nickelback released their second CD, The State, (released in 2000 in the US) under their own, independent label. Nickelback had a top-twenty hit with the song Leader of Men and it wasn't long until record labels came knocking. They jumped back on the road to support the CD and eventually signed with Roadrunner Records.

Then to Now

Nickelback's first release was a seven-track EP called Hesher in 1996. In the same year Nickelback recorded their first full-length album Curb. "Fly" was released on Hesher and Curb and was the first single produced by Nickelback. It did not chart and was only played on local radio stations.

The following album The State was recorded in 1998 and was released as an independent record the same year. Nickelback signed a record deal with EMI and Roadrunner Records. The State was then re-released in 2000 by EMI and Roadrunner Records; it was certificated gold in Canada and the United States.

In 2001, Nickelback released the album Silver Side Up, which propelled them into the mainstream. The single "How You Remind Me" was a huge success, peaking at #1 on both the American and Canadian charts at the same time. In the U.S., it was a #1 single on the Mainstream and Modern rock charts, as

well as the pop chart. It also peaked at #2 on Adult Top 40. "How You Remind Me" became the Billboard Hot 100 #1 single of the year for 2002. The next single was "Too

Bad", which also hit #1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart and had a small amount of success on the pop chart. The final single from the album was "Never Again", another #1 hit on Mainstream Rock.
In 2002, Chad Kroeger worked with Josey Scott on the Spider-Man theme song, "Hero". This also featured Tyler Connolly, Mike Kroeger, Matt Cameron, and Jeremy Taggart. In 2003, Nickelback released The Long Road. The lead single was "Someday".

Nickelback's fifth studio album, All the Right Reasons, produced five U.S. Hot 100 top 20 singles: "Photograph", "Savin' Me", "Far Away", "If Everyone Cared", "Rockstar". Three of these became U.S. Hot 100 top 10 singles.
On September 4, 2008 Roadrunner Records announced that the first single from their upcoming album was originally going to be "If Today Was Your Last Day" and was to be released September 30, 2008. However, the song was scrapped as the first single, and "Gotta Be Somebody" will serve as the lead single instead. The new album, titled Dark Horse, was released on November 18, 2008. The album is produced by Mutt Lange.