Mike Kroeger opens up about the hate that his band Nickelback experienced over the years, calling it “the training ground for cyber bullying.”
The Canadian rock band were often considered the internet’s “punching bag” during the early 2000’s experiencing mass waves of online hate.
Kroeger, the bassist and brother of frontman Chad, spoke to the Downbeat podcast about the hate the band received during the early years of the internet.
“we got to be patient zero of cyberbullying,”
“Everybody was learning how to pick on people online, and we got to be patient zero of cyberbullying on social media. It sucked. But it turns out it was the trial run of what would become sort of how things work.”
“Humanity really has a real addiction to negativity,” Kroeger remarked. “We really like negativity, really like to see people get hurt. Especially people that are successful and doing well, we want to see them go down the hardest.”
“Especially people that are successful and doing well, we want to see them go down the hardest.”
“Troll culture is very profitable,” the guitarist added. “I mean, people have gotten into elected office with it. It works. If you want to generate interest, it doesn’t have to be positive and the negative interest actually sells better.”
Kroeger likens his experience to the backlash received by the British royal family. “These people catch cancer, and it’s, like, that’s all anybody wants to talk about. Somebody gets killed, and it’s, like, ‘This is great news.’ Like, what the f*** is wrong with you?”
“It’s really nice to not be Public Enemy Number One.”
Last year, frontman Chad Kroeger said he believed that the hate the band receives has lessened over the years.
“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,” he said. “It’s really nice to not be Public Enemy Number One.”
Nickelback recently released a feature-length documentary ‘Hate to Love: Nickelback’ delving into the years of online vitriol the band was subjected to. The piece exposes the impact online hate had on their members, and, on a brighter note, shows the recent wave of love for the band on TikTok.
The documentary released in September of 2023 and received mixed reviews with one Rolling Stone critic calling it the “Nickelback of rock docs”.
