Where The Band Nickelback Got Its Name

Look at this famous band. Every time we do it makes us mad. How come everybody just sees red whenever they look at Chad Kroeger's head? (If you weren't singing those sentences to the tune of Nickelback's "Photograph," you should really go back and do that). Obviously, we're joking, but there's a bizarre, wheat-field-sized grain of truth to what we're saying. Somehow Nickelback has become more famous for being hated than for being a band. The loathing is so noticeable that in 2018, then-Toronto Raptor Lucas Nogueira voiced his confusion to CBS Sports about how Canadians — the politest people on Earth — actually laughed in his face for liking Nickelback, which is a Canadian band.

Is the problem overexposure? Northern exposure? Whatever the reason, the band's name has become synonymous with hatred-drenched success, which is fitting, considering that the lead singer's name, Chad, is one of the most widely ridiculed monikers in pop culture. So how did the Chad (not Kroeger) of rock bands get its name?

Before they were Nickelback, they were the Village Idiots, per Mercury News. This was back when the band was based in the tiny town of Hanna, Canada. These Idiots consisted of lead singer and guitarist Chad Kroeger; his brother, bassist Mike Kroeger; their cousin, drummer Brandon Kroeger (whose spot was later filled by Daniel Adair), and shockingly a non-relative, keyboardist and guitarist Ryan Peake. Unlike their more famous/infamous incarnation, the Village Idiots didn't sell over 50 million albums. So before making the big bucks, Mike worked at Starbucks. 

As a barista, Mike found himself constantly telling customers, "Here's your nickel back," which inspired the band's now-reviled name. It's a pity he didn't refer to Canadian nickels by the animal featured on them: the beaver. Even if you wouldn't pay a nickel to see one of their concerts, we bet "Beaverback" would be a name everyone could get behind.