Nickelback is going on the “Rock The Country” tour with Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Nickelback being featured on this tour begs the age-old question: Is Nickelback actually good?
The public opinion around Nickelback is that their one of the worst bands ever, in fact on May 9, 2013, Rolling Stone released the results of a Readers’ Poll titled “The Ten Worst Bands of the Nineties,” on this list Nickelback was ranked second worst, only beaten by Creed. However, Nickelback didn’t achieve virality until the year 2001 when they released their album “Silver Side Up.”
The main source of Nickelback hatred stems from the metal community, as Nickelback was signed to Roadrunner Records — the label for bands such as Slipknot, Sepultura and Fear Factory.
“Metal fans don’t realize what a great thing Nickelback was for them because everybody thought Nickelback killed Roadrunner. The success of Nickelback allowed Roadrunner to be Roadrunner, to continue. It continues to this day,” said Monte Conner, former A&R executive at Roadrunner Records, in a 2023 documentary “Hate to Love: Nickelback.”
If you look deeper into the statistics of Nickelback’s sales and awards received, it’s not hard to notice that they are wildly successful. The band has gone gold six times, platinum 22 times and diamond once, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards. RIAA awards signify sales with a gold signifying 500 thousand sales, platinum signifying one million sales and diamond signifying 10 million sales. The band has won multiple awards, including 13 Junos, six Grammy nominations, two American Music Awards, six iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards and a People’s Choice award. The band also was added to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2023 during the 2023 Junos in Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. The band is currently ranked 279th in the world for Spotify streams.
“If you turned on the radio in 2001 you couldn’t miss it, Nickelback had gone global. Every 40-something has sung this song at the top of their voice in a bar. It’s a right of passage and it’s become the most played song of the decade,” said actor Ryan Reynolds at the 2023 Junos.
Statistically speaking the band has all the accolades to be considered one of the greatest bands of all time. Billboard even placed them as the 26th best band of the 21st century placing them higher than any other rock band with Linkin Park coming in second amongst rock bands placing 37th. Nickelback has cemented themselves as one of the greatest rock bands of all times despite all the hatred and meme culture they have been through.
