Stars Who Can't Stand Nickelback

When someone thinks about how Nickelback became the most hated band in the music industry, it isn't really that much of a secret about what happened here. The Canadian band plays a radio-friendly brand of rock and appeared absolutely everywhere in the 2000s. It wasn't a case of them doing anything even mildly offensive, or becoming embroiled in scandal and controversy like many of their peers; instead, Nickelback's greatest sin was becoming popular. How vile and disgusting!

Resultantly, Nickelback turned into a synonym for the word "terrible" and the group became the undisputed punching bag of the entertainment industry. Artists like Slipknot and the Black Keys' Patrick Carney took shots at them, while even someone like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg couldn't help but throw shade in the band's direction for daring to exist. At one point, finding a Nickelback fan was akin to finding the last Coke can in the desert because nobody admitted to liking them, even if the 2008 album, "Dark Horse," was a certified banger.

Time proves to be the greatest equalizer, though. Chad Kroeger and the boys rode the wave of negativity and rolled with the punches rather than throw in the towel. Now, they're on the other side, standing in the sun and receiving the respect they deserve for building a lasting legacy in one of the world's most unforgiving industries. So, who's laughing now? That said, let's take a look at the most high-profile figures to have spoken out about Nickelback in the past.

The rock duo The Black Keys features Dan Auerbach on guitar and vocals and Patrick Carney on drums. The group plays a blues style of rock that's a throwback to the old-school days and not something that's heard on commercial radio all too often. While The Black Keys tasted their own success in the music industry and built up a name for themselves, it's nothing compared to the scale of what Nickelback has achieved.

In 2012, Carney spoke to Rolling Stone about the state of rock music. He didn't hold back in his assessment of what he perceived to have gone wrong in the genre, saying: "Rock & roll is dying because people became okay with Nickelback being the biggest band in the world. So they became okay with the idea that the biggest rock band in the world is always going to be s*** — therefore you should never try to be the biggest rock band in the world." Carney took further aim by criticizing the likes of Nickelback of being "watered-down" and "post-grunge crap." In addition to this, he colorfully expressed how offended he becomes when The Black Keys are compared to this type of music.

Did Nickelback respond in anger to Carney's comments about them? Not at all. Instead, the band posted the following cheeky message on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Thanks to the drummer in the Black Keys calling us the Biggest Band in the World in Rolling Stone. Hehe."

Rock 'n' roll and wrestling mix like lime and soda — it's a match made in heaven. Expectedly, Nickelback stretched its influence into the world of pro wrestling when its track "Burn It to the Ground" became the official theme song of "WWE Raw" from 2009 to 2012. At the time, one of the biggest stars in WWE was CM Punk, who featured in the various montages accompanying this track throughout the years.

Punk is a notable fan of rock music, coming out to the tune of Living Colour's "Cult of Personality" and confirming his status as a bona fide fan of punk rock legends Rancid. However, he doesn't appear to be singing along to the lyrics of "How You Remind Me" when he works out at the gym or prepares for his next match.

In 2015, Punk posted on X about how people must be trolling when they praise "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace." A user replied that he needs to "chill with the hate" and look at the sales figures for the movie as confirmation of its quality. Punk didn't mince his words with his response, writing: "Nickelback sells albums. Don't make 'em good. Get outta here with that s***. Millions of people on earth are dumb." As the self-proclaimed Voice of the Voiceless, Punk never misses a beat when it comes to airing his feelings about a variety of topics. In fact, he's also one of the wrestlers who hates Hulk Hogan.

What do Nickelback and Slipknot have in common? They were signed to the same major label: Roadrunner Records. Roadrunner was known as mostly a heavy metal label, possessing artists such as Machine Head, Type O Negative, and Slipknot, so Nickelback's inclusion always felt left field. Appearing on the Netflix documentary "Hate to Love: Nickelback," former Roadrunner exec Monte Conner revealed there were feelings about Nickelback's addition to the roster. "Slipknot were the top dogs at the label when Nickelback hit," Conner said. "I don't think Slipknot loved the fact that Nickelback came in."

There are definitely bad vibes between Nickelback's Chad Kroeger and Slipknot's Corey Taylor, that's for sure. Appearing on the "Metal Covenant" podcast, Kroeger criticized Taylor for talking trash about him and the band in the past, saying it's simple to write a hit song. Kroeger added that Taylor's songs aren't as good as Nickelback's. He said: "How good can your music be if you gotta beat each other up on stage, throw up in your own masks every night? I mean, music shouldn't come with a gimmick. Music should just be music."

Taylor fired back while talking to 98KUPD, stating he never uttered what Kroeger claimed he'd said about him. He said that the Nickelback singer lived on "planet Kroeger" and poked fun at Kroeger being voted as the ugliest man alive twice. Years later, Taylor threw a backhanded compliment at Nickelback, saying they had been eclipsed as the most hated band alive by Imagine Dragons.

Politics never fails to bring out opinions — some good, some bad, and some totally bizarre. Artists such as Rage Against the Machine or Green Day often deliver their rousing messages through their music, while others like Royal Blood occasionally take to social media to air their thoughts. The British rock duo, consisting of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher, posted a message on X in October 2016 regarding their view of the American election candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The group wrote: "Donald Trump + Hillary Clinton = Nickelback."

Royal Blood didn't exactly endear themselves to either Democrats or Republicans here, as fans blasted them for their post and attempt at humor. In addition, others rightfully pointed out that Nickelback is a Canadian band, so they should have substituted them with someone like Creed — another one of the most hated bands in music.

Nickelback saw the message and didn't take long to reply, writing on X: "Nickelback jokes are like Royal Blood, they were a lot cooler a couple years ago." The band included a Canadian flag emoji and added: "Don't drink and tweet fellas. Stay safe. XO."

While the world continues to become a stranger place with each passing year, back in 2011 not many people's bingo card had Nickelback beefing with Australian baseball player Peter Moylan on social media. It all started after Moylan attended a Foo Fighters gig and decided to let Nickelback know all about it on X. Tagging the band, the former MLB star wrote: "Note to Nickelback, please attend a Foo Fighters concert. That's how it should be done, Chad."

Nickelback shared the sentiment of Foo Fighter's live skills, but couldn't help but throw a fastball at Moylan, replying on X: "Foos are killer for sure. We're doing just fine too thanks. For you, Pete, is watching [Craig] Kimbrel better from the bench or on TV?" A few days later, Nickelback attempted to squash the beef, saying the banter was all in good nature since he took the first shot and there was no heat between anybody. Moylan appeared to accept the social media truce, but he didn't recant his statement or praise Nickelback as the true rock gods of the world.

Unfortunately, Nickelback probably loathes seeing anything related to the Foo Fighters pop up in their X feed at this point. For years, a fake Dave Grohl account sent out endless Nickelback slander, and a lot of people, including reporters, believed it was the real Foo Fighters front man posting it. Eventually, the Foo Fighters confirmed it wasn't actually Grohl sending messages from this mischievous account.

Blake Shelton has been in the music industry for over a quarter of a century, rising through the ranks in the early 2000s, before sticking around for the long haul. Undoubtedly, he has seen his fair share of ups and downs throughout this time, and moments where he hasn't been as beloved as he once was before.

As a result, one would expect him to sympathize with the likes of Nickelback, who saw their popularity weaponized as a way to bash them. However, the Canadian rockers shouldn't expect a pat on the back from Shelton, as he fears becoming a joke like Nickelback. Speaking to People in 2022, Shelton spoke about how he found out his name was used in the "Peacemaker" television show. The musician explained how a character is "making the point that John Cena's so white that she starts comparing him to people," and Shelton's name came up first. Shelton's reaction was: "I was like, oh my God, I'm the new Nickelback!"

Shelton's history with Nickelback stems back quite a few years. For ages, a rumor did the rounds that his ex-wife Miranda Lambert punched Nickelback's Chad Kroeger at a party. Shelton all but confirmed the incident to Rolling Stone, stating: "People always try to pop off or call her bluff at bars. One of them I don't want to say the guy's name, but he's the lead singer of a very popular rock band. His initials are C.K."

As a comedian and television host, Jimmy Kimmel doesn't shy away from making fun of people on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" In the past, Nickelback appeared on his show, performing live and even participating in the reading of mean tweets on the program. Considering the connection and how the band rocks up when invited, there shouldn't be any real drama here, right?

Well, there is the small matter of Kimmel comparing one of America's most divisive political figures to Nickelback on his show. In 2022, Kimmel hosted a political segment where he said: "Nobody likes Ted Cruz and yet, somehow, he's still out there doing his thing. He's like the senator version of Nickelback. It's inexplicable." The audience laughed and Kimmel played it up for comedic effect. Considering how much of a staunch democrat Kimmel is, this wasn't the nicest of comparisons for Nickelback.

A possible issue between the parties could stem from a story that Bobcat Goldthwait shared on "Kevin Pollack's Chat Show." Goldthwait served as a director on many episodes of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and shared a story about how he worked on one featuring Nickelback. He explained how the band's manager asked him to not shoot Chad Kroeger from the side since the front man was self-conscious about his nose. The ask was to frame him only from the front; however, Goldthwait decided to have fun and created a montage focusing only on Kroeger's nose at the end of the segment.

In terms of things you didn't know about Mark Zuckerberg, count the Facebook CEO as one of the many fans of Marvel's Iron Man — or maybe just the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2016, he posted a promotional video for an AI system called Jarvis — voiced by actor Morgan Freeman. Zuckerberg demonstrated how Jarvis works around the home and holds the ability to communicate with the user. In one segment, Zuckerberg asks Jarvis to "play us some good Nickelback songs." Jarvis replies: "I'm sorry, Mark. I'm afraid I can't do that. There are no good Nickelback songs." A puzzled Zuckerberg looks back at the camera and says it was a test and that Jarvis passed with flying colors.

Zuckerberg's attempt at humor didn't sit well with singer Avril Lavigne, Chad Kroeger's ex-wife. Lavigne took to her X account to send a message to Facebook's head honcho. She wrote: "Many people use your products — some people love them and some people don't. Either way you're allowed your musical opinion however, your jab at Nickelback is in poor taste." Lavigne explained that due to Zuckerberg's status he has a responsibility to be more considerate of what he says to his audience. In addition, she included the hashtags #SayNoToBullying, #TheJokeIsOld, and #NickelbackHasSoldOver50MillionAlbums.

In terms of the origin of the mega Nickelback hate, it can be traced back to comedian Brian Posehn, who made a joke during an episode of "Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn" in the early 2000s. Sitting with other guests, Posehn said: "No one talks about the studies that show that bad music makes people violent. Like, Nickelback makes me wanna kill Nickelback. They're horrible — just trust me."

Not a single person could have predicted the ripple effect this would have on the world and the band, once it suddenly became cool to dunk on the Canadian rockers. Appearing on KFC Radio in 2022, Chad Kroeger addressed Posehn's joke and what it started. "Some comedian — I'm gonna have to go find the guy's name so I can go bomb his house," Kroeger joked. "This guy makes this s***ty crack about us. And he's on Comedy Central. They took that, they put it in a commercial for that one show, and that played on Comedy Central for six months straight. This Nickelback joke. That starts this whole thing going." Drummer Daniel Adair added how many of their peers admitted to them they hated them irrationally, just because it was the cool thing to do, and actually started to like them once they met in person.

There are various stars who can't stand Ryan Reynolds for different reasons; however, Nickelback love their fellow Canadian and his wild escapades as Deadpool. This mostly stems from the fact that Reynolds defended the band as the Merc with the Mouth in a time in which everyone dunked on them for their own amusement.

During a promotional advert for "Once Upon a Deadpool," Deadpool chats to "The Wonder Years" actor Fred Savage, who is lying in bed. At one point in the conversation, Savage throws shade at Deadpool as a Marvel character owned by Fox at the time. He says: "It's like if the Beatles were produced by Nickelback. It's music, but it sucks." Deadpool defends Nickelback, while Savage calls them "over-produced, formulaic ear garbage." This riles up Deadpool, who launches into a laundry list of the band's most impressive accomplishments, eventually receiving an apology from Savage for daring to go against the 'Back.

Of course, Savage might only be playing the part of Fred Savage hating on Nickelback for comedic effect here. However, this fictionalized version of Savage comes across as a spoiled former child star, whose opinions are shaped by what others say. Eventually, both he and Deadpool break out into their own rendition of "How You Remind Me," making anyone listening wish it was Chad Kroeger singing it instead.

Want to find out more about the polarizing Canadian rockers? Then, check out where the band Nickelback got its name to find out more.