Nickelback bassist Mike Kroeger sat down with The Downbeat Podcast and discussed the backlash his band faced over the years. Even though the hate made them famous in the 2000s, they still continue to receive hate for different reasons. The bassist explained:
“It was the training ground for cyberbullying. Everybody was learning how to pick on people online, and we got to be patient zero of cyberbullying on social media. It sucked. But it turns out it was the trial run of what would become sort of how things work.”
The bassist also shared his fear that once the hate is over, it might be the end for them:
“Referencing the fact that people are finally starting to move away from performative ‘worst band ever’ admonishments when there are far easier targets out there. If I look at the trajectory of our career versus the hatersphere, I don’t want the hatersphere to stop. Because we have never done as well as we did when everybody hated us. So, now that people are starting to try to like us, I don’t care one way or the other. But now that people are starting to like us, I’m worried our career might be over. I hope not.”
Chad Kroeger Thinks The Hate Has Stopped
Mike might think the hate continues, but his brother and the frontman Chad Kroeger doesn’t think so.
In an interview last year, the rocker shared that the days of hate against Nickelback are now over:
“I’m happy to say that the hate train’s over. It’s for whatever reason TikTok or something like that just like made it not cool to hate on the band anymore, and then like even these hardcore metal dudes on their podcast shows, they’re like, ‘All right, we might have been a little hard on Nickelback back in the day.”
However, he is well aware that the hate online made the band famous:
“They didn’t even realize that the more smack talk that was going on, I’m like, ‘You know that you’re just keeping us in the headlines, right?’ Absolutely felt like Obi-Wan [Kenobi, Star Wars.]”
The band eventually turned their negative image into a positive one and used it to make a documentary. The 90-minute documentary, ‘Hate To Love: Nickelback,’ arrived in cinemas on March 27. It shows how the band became famous and the challenges they faced.
You can watch the interview below.