Nickelback is by far one of the most divisive bands of all time, While they have reached commercial success, the Chad Kroeger fronted band has faced a lot of criticism over their career.
During a recent interview with That Fuzzing Rock Show, Flotsam and Jetsam frontman Eric “A.K.” Knutson was asked if he thinks Nickelback “gets a bad rap.”
“Yes and no.” Knutson replied. “From what I understand — I really don’t know any of the original story of why people hate them so much, but they started off pretty heavy, did the smart thing and went a little more commercial because that’s where the damn money is.”
He continued, revealing that one of the reasons he thinks the band has a lot of haters has to do with their singer’s attitude off of the stage.
“And from what I understand, Chad Kroeger’s kind of a monster to deal with for almost anybody,” he explained. “And I think it was the hate for him that started the whole ‘Nickelback’s horrible’ thing. But really, if you listen to their songs, they’re brilliantly written. They fill arenas for years and years and years now. So it’s really a musician thing.”
Expanding on Kroger’s behavior, Knutson added:
“Musicians that have dealt with him, that have opened up for him or whatever, just hate his guts. I don’t know why, but that’s what I’ve heard. And that’s where the whole ‘if you’re a musician, you have to hate Nickelback’ thing came from, I think.”
