Nickelback’s 10th studio album, Get Rollin’, is out today (November 18th), and with the new release, frontman Chad Kroeger says he’s “ready for the world to hate us again.”
While Nickelback have enjoyed massive success over the past 20-plus years, they’ve also experienced their share of backlash from critics and haters who don’t appreciate the band’s brand of hit-making mainstream rock.
In an interview with Audacy, host Carlota mentioned to Kroeger and guitarist Ryan Peake that he expected the first single “San Quentin” to be in constant rotation on rock radio. Kroeger responded, “You know, we joke about it all the time. I’m like, ‘I’m ready for the world to hate us again.’”
When Carlota chimed in, “They’re starting to love you,” Kroeger added, “Ryan says that all the time. He says, ‘I think there’s been a softening.’”
Later on in the interview, Kroeger once again referenced the criticism the band has faced over the years when Carlota asked them if they were a superhero, who would they be and what would be their power. “We would be Captain Whipping Boy, and we would be able to take more shit than anyone,” answered Kroeger.
A few years back, Slipknot singer Corey Taylor, who has had a long-standing feud with Kroeger, admitted that Nickelback may no longer be the most hated rock band around. Instead, he insisted that honor now goes to Imagine Dragons.
Elsewhere in the Audacy interview, Kroeger remarked that their 2003 hit “Figured You Out” would have been shut down in today’s climate. “Can you imagine if we released a song starting off with ‘I like your pants around your feet’ now? We’d be canceled in two seconds.”
No matter what you think of the band’s music, Nickelback are soon to be Hall of Famers. It was recently announced that the group will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in March 2023.
Listen to the full Audacy interview, as well as Nickelback’s appearance on Consequence’s Kyle Meredith With … podcast, plus stream the entire Get Rollin’ album, below.
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