Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger has discussed the less glamorous side of life in one of the world’s most recognisable rock bands. Speaking alongside his bandmates in a new Virgin Radio UK interview with Ben Jones, the singer explained why everyday anonymity is something he rarely gets to enjoy.
I don’t get to turn it off as much as these [other] guys do. They get the anonymity a little bit more than I do. I’m the face of the band, and so it’s a little tough for me to hide. The other day I was in a store doing something and — oh, I wanted to go try something on; that’s what it was — and I had a hat on. It’s, like, there’s no way that you could even… I didn’t think that I looked like me. And just a constant reminder. ‘Can I try these on?’ And [the person helping me was], like, ‘Yeah, let me get you a key to the dressing room. Any tour dates coming up?’ [Laughs] Just, like, ‘Yeah. 2027.’ ‘Cause even I try to forget sometimes that I’m… I just think, ‘Well, they don’t know who I am. There’s no way this person knows.’
And some people just play it cooler than others. And some people just are just, like, blah. ‘I know who you are and I need to tell you. When I was such and such an age, I came and saw you guys play at this city.’ And it’s a double-edged sword. It can be a lot of fun. You’re not having a hard time getting a table at a restaurant. And sometimes it’s a bit of a pain in the ass.
I think it’s [actor] Kevin Bacon who was telling a story about going to an open-air mall here in L.A. — The Grove, I think it was. I think it was something like that. I’m probably gonna butcher the story, but it went something along these lines, where he had makeup on or prosthetics or some sort of thing, a mask, something was on his face, so you couldn’t tell he was famous. And he just wanted to go and try and see what it was like. And they asked him, ‘Okay, so what was it like to go out as Kevin Bacon and have no one recognize you?’ And he’s, like, ‘It’s terrible. It’s terrible. No one knew who I was. I got no preferential treatment. I hated it.’ So there’s also that.
Ryan Peake offered this:
I don’t think being famous would apply to me in that sense. I think having, I guess, whatever level of success we’ve had allows me to disappear and go off grid a lot easier these days, I think, which is kind of nice. But like Chad was saying, he kind of takes the bullets for all of us because being the frontman, recognizable guy, it’s a day-to-day job, for sure. And lately it’s been hopefully quite good to [Chad].
I don’t know, I got recognized at a Slayer show the other day, so that was probably the… I wasn’t expecting that. [A fan near me was yelling], ‘Slayer!’ [And then he went], ‘Hey, are you Ryan from Nickelback? Cool. Good to meet you, man.’ Anyway, but it’s fun. [Chad] stole my answer. The restaurant reservations — not a bad perk.
Daniel Adair said instead:
I agree with [that]. Perks are good. Also, the flip side to that is you also get rock star pricing from contractors and stuff. When they come up and they find out what you do, all of a sudden there’s an extra 15% everything. ‘Oh, it’s this inflation. It’s crazy right now.’
Chad added:
I just say they just add a zero every time. Someone comes over, they find out it’s your house, it’s just, like, ‘Oh, I’m adding a zero.’
Mike Kroeger stated:
Nickelback’s famous. Chad’s famous. I’m not famous. If I’m famous, it’s news to me. And living in this town makes it even easier to disappear, because everybody’s trying to disappear here.
Upcoming shows:
Tickets and additional information are available through the band’s official channels and Live Nation.
