Nickelback

Chad and Mike Kroeger were brought up in the small Canadian town of Hanna, about 3 hours drive east of Calgary. It is pretty much a one street town, and, if you stay, you've a choice of just two jobs - coal mining or farming. Mike, the elder brother, was the first to leave for the bright lights of Vancouver. Brother Chad, cousin Brandon (the original drummer), and Ryan Peake soon followed. The foursome had first got together musically back in Hanna, but a new enthusiasm infected them in the big city. They formed a band, practiced hard, and soon were playing live shows in local clubs. Chad was full of ideas - he writes the lyrics and main melody - the other guys chip in to construct the overall sound.

In 1997, the band released their debut album, Curb, which went on to small amount of airplay on local radio. At about this time, the band changed drummers a couple of times, before deciding upon Ryan Vikedal.

2000 saw the release of their next album, The State. Two tracks off the album, Leader of Men and Breathe made the US top 20.

The band moved to Roadrunner records for the release of their 3rd album, Silver Side Up. The band's first chart #1 How You Remind Me came from the album. It was a huge hit both in the US and in Canada, and went on to receive 4 Grammy award nominations. Two other singles charted well Too Bad, and Never Again.

The band became an amazingly popular live act, headlining at many major venues in the Canada, US and Europe. The band had achieved worldwide recognition and success.

Their 4th album, The Long Road, was produced largely at Chad's home studio in Vancouver. Singles off the album include Someday, Figured You Out and Feelin' Way Too Damn Good.

The band took a break from their punishing touring schedule. At first they planned to take some time out, but after just a few weeks they were back at Chad's studio, throwing musical ideas around, and composing fresh stuff. Again they took on a new drummer, Daniel Adair, whose energetic style perfectly complemented the new material. Eight months later, their 5th album All The Right Reasons was released. A whole slew of megahit singles have come from the album, including Photograph, Savin' Me, Far Away, Rockstar and If Everyone Cared

Trivia note: the band's name hail from the days Mike worked in Starbucks. When handing out change to the customers, he'd often hear himself say 'Here's your nickel back'.