By the late 1990s Seattle grunge bands like Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains had faded into the background or disappeared altogether. The demand for angst-ridden, muffled rock was still high, but there seemed to be no clear leader in the genre. Enter Nickelback, located figuratively and literally just a short trip north of Seattle in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. While Nickelback maintained the brooding grunge sound of the Northwest, they got to skip out on the introductions to mainstream music that their predecessors had to make, thus allowing Nickelback to become one of the most rapidly successful post-grunge bands, on par with the likes of Matchbox 20, Foo Fighters and Creed.Nickelback actually got their start in Hanna, Alberta, a little town east of Calgary. Legend has it that lead singer and guitarist Chad Kroger was looking at a long future with (coincidentally) another successful Seattle invention, Starbucks, until the cover band he moonlighted with decided that they’d be better off playing their own, original Seattle-style grunge. The name Nickelback came from the phrase Kroger used to say to customers at Starbucks when they paid five cents more than their bill. Heading west from their small town, Nickelback drove for Vancouver, where Chad Kroger and his brother, bassist Mike Kroger, had a connection at a studio.They released two albums, Hesher and Curb, in 1996. The single “Fly” was the only track that got much attention from local radio stations in their early years. They then went on tour across North America, built some support for the band on the road, and released The State in 2000, although they were still far from catching fire. A year later they struck it big with the single “How You Remind Me,” which peaked at the top in several categories in the U.S. and Canadian charts, including Modern Rock, Top 40, and, of course, the Billboard Hot 100. “How You Remind Me” was able to give Chad Kroger’s signature deep, raspy voice and golden locks plenty of national attention, and their grip on mainstream rock single success hasn’t loosened since.
