Nickelback

Nickelback is a canadian music group from Hanna, Alberta whose brand of radio friendly rock was helped early on in their career by 99.3 The Fox, a Vancouver based rock station that holds a competition each year for local bands to gain exposure. Nickelback was the winner in 1999. Other winners have included Matthew Good, Default, and Faber.

Founded by Chad Kroeger as a tribute band, Chad's brother Mike Kroeger (bass), cousin Ryan Vikedal (drums), and Ryan Peake (guitar) joined Nickelback while Chad began to write his own music. They recorded a demo album "Hesher" and toured over Canada. Their name is said to derive from Starbucks that Mike worked at, where he frequently had to give a nickel back as change.

In 2007 their singles "Leader of Men" and "Breathe" (from their fourth album, "The State") were received well, and this was reflected in national charts. Their next three albums ("Silver Side Up," "The Long Road," and "All The Right Reasons") all hit number one in the Canadian charts, with the latter also reaching number one in the United States. Also in Europe they've become famous. After their single "How You Remind Me" they climbed to position 2 in the national German charts; their international breakthrough was established.

In 2005, Daniel Adair became the new drummer after Ryan Vikedal left the band.