When the band first formed in the early 1990s, it performed covers under the name “Village Idiot.” However, once the band began creating original music, the band members switched the name to “Nickelback.”

At the time, bassist Mike Kroeger worked at Starbucks and was constantly telling his customers, “Here’s your nickel back” whenever handing them change. All of the band members liked the sound of “Nickelback,” so that’s been the name ever since.

Nickelback is generally considered an alternative rock band, but the band was also a leader of the second wave of post-grunge music alongside acts like Creed, Puddle of Mudd, and 3 Doors Down.

Nickelback was formed in the small town of Hanna in Alberta, Canada, the hometown of founding members Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger, Ryan Peake, and short-time drummer Brandon Kroeger.

Although, the founding members of Nickelback started performing together as “Village Idiot” in the early 1990s, the band did not assume the name “Nickelback” until 1995.

The lead singer of Nickelback is Chad Kroeger. He was born on November 15, 1974, making him 49 years old.

“Photograph” is the first single from Nickelback’s fifth studio album All the Right Reasons. It was released on August 8, 2005 and peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The song "Rockstar" was written by Chad Kroeger and is the fourth single from All the Right Reasons. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100.

While Nickelback has been of the most commercially successful rock bands over the last few decades, they are also one of the most universally hated.

In fact, the academic journal Metal Music Studies published a peer reviewed article that scientifically analyzed reviews of the band to try to figure out where all the hate was coming from. The conclusion was that Nickelback lacks authenticity, which makes the band seem dishonest and lacking values.

For metal fans, however, it goes a little deeper:

In 1999, Nickelback was signed to Roadrunner Records. Until that point, Roadrunner historically signed predominantly metal heavy metal artists like King Diamond, Sepultura, and Type O Negative.

In contrast, Nickelback was perceived as being everything metal stood against: commercialism, conventionality, and conformity. As a result, Roadrunner signing Nickelback seemed like a betrayal, and both the record label and Nickelback received backlash by metal fans that continues to this day.

There’s some that believe this is where all of the hatred against Nickelback started. By bringing attention to Nickelback, the haters inadvertently helped push Nickelback to mainstream attention. But as hatred for Nickelback increased, so too did the band’s popularity. I guess there’s a fine line between love and hate, and Nickelback has learned to walk that line with precision.

A typical Nickelback concert lasts for about two hours. However, the length of the show can vary depending on the venue, set list, and other acts performing.

Nickelback has had 1,128 concerts.

Nickelback is most often considered to be Rock, Alternative Rock, Pop Rock, Alternative, Hard Rock, Death Metal, Alternative Metal, Electropop, Nu Metal, Canadian, Post-Grunge, Funk Rock, and Canadian Rock.

The next Nickelback concert is on June 08, 2024 at Olympiahalle in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

The last Nickelback concert was on June 04, 2024 at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

The songs that Nickelback performs live vary, but here's the latest setlist that we have from the May 30, 2024 concert at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany:

1. San Quentin
2. Savin' Me
3. Far Away
4. Animals
5. Someday
6. Worthy to Say
7. Figured You Out
8. When We Stand Together
9. She Keeps Me Up
10. This Afternoon
11. Don't Look Back in Anger
12. Photograph
13. Rockstar
14. Those Days
15. How You Remind Me
16. Gotta Be Somebody
17. Burn It to the Ground