Chad Kroeger Believes There's Been A "Softening" Around The Hate Towards Nickelback

Nickelback have always been a band that have divided a crowd - and more often than not, people have leaned more towards 'dislike' than 'love'. Whether it was the 'Photograph' meme or just that they've been dumped into the 'Yowl rock' category, It always seemed to be highly controversial to admit that you've enjoyed a Nickleback song or two. 

Well, no longer, as lead singer Chad Kroeger believes “there’s been a softening” of the hate in recent years. 

Speaking with Arizona radio station KFMA, Kroeger said, "That kind of used to be a thing. I shouldn’t say ‘that kind of used to be’ — that was definitely a thing for a long time. And I think there’s been a softening — there really has, thankfully."

The singer, who can be seen enjoying a swim in his home swimming pool (which probably doesn't help his case), further explained, “I’m not sure if it’s because we receive a ton of love on TikTok or whatever the hell it is, but for whatever reason the teeth have kind of been removed. It’s really nice, it’s really nice to not be Public Enemy Number One.”

Ruminating on why the band were such a controversial act for so many years, Kroeger comes to the conclusion that some of the backlash may have come from the band’s music constantly being played on the radio. “That type of oversaturation could piss people off,” he remarked. “But at the end of the day, we’re just a band that makes music.”

He added, “I can’t stand a couple of bands, but I don’t go online and turn into a keyboard warrior and just start hating on them. I just change the channel, or I put on something that I wanna listen to.”

Pop superstar Lizzo might have helped their case earlier this year when it came out that she previously spouted some nice words about the band. 

When she was playing a game of Jam Or Not A Jam with CBC Music and the band's 2001 single How You Remind Me started, she said, “Why do people not like Nickelback? I think that this is a jam. It has a beautiful climax . . . everybody knows this melody... I think they get a lot of shit because [vocalist Chad Kroeger] had a curly blonde perm. That’s the only reason why they get shit ‘cause this is an amazing song.”

Maybe now we can all admit that we've been secretly blasting Nickelback for years.