No Pain, No Shame: What It's Like To Be A Fan Of Nickelback

"You like Nickelback? Are you insane? HOW CAN YOU LIKE NICKELBACK?"

That’s just one of the responses you’re likely to hear someone say to a fan of the Chad Kroeger-led rock outfit.

Despite selling over 50 million albums worldwide and a string of #1 records to boot, there is a stigma surrounding Nickelback that, well, they are just awful.

Hell, even the Queensland police sent out a WANTED poster for the band when they toured Australia back in 2015 for "crimes against music".

Following this month's release of new single, Feed The Machine, and the announcement of their ninth studio album due out in June, we ask Nickelback fans about the pain of being a believer.

Former Triple M radio host and respected industry figure, Dave “Higgo” Higgins, counts himself as a fan, but suggests maybe the overkill of their breakout 2001 single, How You Remind Me, hurt them.

"Nickelback are the real deal," Higgo told The Music.

"Just not to everyone's taste, probably due to over saturation of that one song. 

"Their live shows are great, they're metal lovers and often cover bands like Metallica live, and well, I might add.

"Any band who is given a solo performed by the late Dimebag to include in a song (Side Of A Bullet) must be doing something right. 

"Sure, they write some songs that make you go 'whoa, no thanks' but dammit, every band does that."

Higgo adds that he thinks the new Nickelback single "ticks a lot of boxes".

"A great riff, a catchy hook that's easy to sing along to, it's a rock song that's been formulated with pop sensibilities, it's accessible, and it works," he said.

"All up, this equals a great song."

Whether you love or hate them, there’s no denying that Nickelback have an enormous fanbase at home and abroad.

As US comic Jim Gaffigan says, "If you don't like it, turn it off".

In Australia however, not everyone would be familiar with local cover band, The Nickelback Show.

Prompted by the fact that the group's frontman looks A LOT like Kroeger, the quartet from Sydney decided that they would dedicate their cover sets completely to the Nickelback catalogue.

Though even they weren't big fans to begin with, band member Trevor Rogers said the music grew on them over time.

"I think it just became trendy to dislike [Nickelback]," Rogers told The Music.

"And no doubt many of the people that jump on board with that actually know a lot of their songs and probably have an album or two.

"And many venues won't take us on for that reason - that 'Nah, everyone hates Nickelback' - and yet, they still sell millions and pack stadiums, and the places we do play, we always have very good numbers…"

So how did people react when the group announced they’d become a full-fledged Nickelback cover act?

"The reaction was as you'd expect," Rogers said.

"The people that love Nickelback were punching air and excited. And the rest were like, 'You started what? Why?'

"But as I said, the venues that have us there love us ‘cos the vibe is always good, never any trouble and always a lot of people there."

Kroeger has often stated in the past that Nickelback haters keep the band going and as far as Rogers is concerned, the success they’ve experienced would far outweigh the criticism.

"Everyone's entitled to voice what they like and don't like," Rogers said.