Kroeger Still Flying High With 'Hero,' Nickelback
'Spider-Man' Song, Group Have 4 Combined Grammy Nods
POSTED: 6:37 p.m. EST February 21, 2003
It may sound like a cliche, but in many ways, even if Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger leaves the Grammy Awards empty-handed Sunday, he will still emerge from New York's Madison Square Garden a big winner.
That's because with his group Nickelback and as a solo artist, he scorched the music and movie world over the past year with the smash hits "How You Remind Me" and "Hero," respectively.
The first salvo of bigger things to come came with the domination of the Billboard Music Awards, when "How You Remind Me" nabbed honors for Hot 100 Single of the Year and Top 40 Track of the Year. As a group, Nickelback grabbed the Group of the Year award from Billboard, as well as Hot 100 Single Artist of the Year.
Now Sunday, "How You Remind Me" is one of the five nominees for Grammy's Record of the Year.
But Kroeger will be doing double duty that night, when his "Spider-Man" movie anthem "Hero" -- performed with Saliva's Josey Scott -- competes for Grammys in the Best Rock Performance Duo or Group, Best Rock Song and Best Song Written For a Motion Picture categories.
Scoring two more Grammy nods than he did with Nickelback, Kroeger has made sure his fellow band mates -- bassist brother Mike Kroeger, guitarist Ryan Peake and drummer Ryan Vikedal -- know about it.
"Yeah and I love rubbing that fact in," Kroeger told me by phone during a recent tour stop in Atlanta. "I say, 'Hey, I got more nominations than you do!'"
It's probably the safe to say that Kroeger's band mates don't mind the ribbing. The latest release from the Canadian rockers -- "Silver Side Up" -- has sold more than 4 million copies in the United States and gone platinum six times over north of the border.
Having had that sort of loyal following for Nickelback (the group formed in 1996) could have been seen for a blessing or a curse for Kroeger, when he decided to stake it out on his own to record "Hero" for "Spider-Man." But whether people embraced it or panned it, Kroeger was ready to accept responsibility for his decision to go it alone.
"It was a lot of fun. I had no one else to answer to, I'm not looking over my shoulder at three other guys," Kroeger explained. "It gave me the freedom to just go. I was in charge and I was the boss. What's more fun than getting to call yourself that? And if you screw up, you screw up on your own. But if you succeed, you succeeded on your own."
Kroeger said when he decided to craft "Hero," he decided to stay away from any direct references to the Spider-Man himself. In the end, he was more influenced by the bravery of the men and women who risked and gave their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, and let his emotions take over.
"I was using Sept. 11 more as inspiration than I was the movie," Kroeger explained to me. "And because I had done that, it fits in so nicely because it stays away from anything that's literal. I'm not singing anything about, 'I'm flying around from building to building and I'm a superhero.' It's almost like the song is about something else, but relates perfectly to the movie. Something magical happened."
And because of that magic, Kroeger's been asked back to write the theme song for the sequel, titled "The Amazing Spider-Man." Although the film doesn't hit theaters until May 2004, the singer-songwriter-musician has already started to bat around ideas. He admits that he'd glad to have some time to pound it out.
"The first one was easy to write, it's this second one's that's going to be tough," Kroeger said. " So now what am I doing? I'm sitting in bed last night and I'm like trying to think of like a direction or the course or what I'm going to call the song. I can't use the word 'hero,' and I can't use anything to do with 'save us' or 'save' anybody. That's the worst. I literally hit all the good topics with 'Hero,' and I'm now I'm screwed."
He knows he'll get it eventually, so now he's just going to have fun with the idea of being unoriginal.
"What am I going to do? I'm sitting there just like okay maybe I should just call it "Hero II," Kroeger added with a laugh.
If there any immediate concerns that are pressing on Kroeger, it's the lack of time to do what needs to be done for the immediate future. But he'll figure it out.
"There's not a lot of complaining coming out of the mouth of Chad Kroeger these days," Kroeger mused. "The only complaint I have is that I'm too busy with Nickleback, to go on and do more things that I want to do. Like right now I just finished writing and recording a song for Faith Hill that I'm really, really proud of. And before, I did a song with Carlos Santana. I'm just stretching in as many different directions as I possibly can and I'm having a blast doing it."
Unlike his recent writing and producing gig for fellow rockers Theory of a Deadman, Kroeger said there's an entirely different set of challenges writing for a country music superstar. In fact, the challenges are piled high and deep, and he loves every one of them.
"I've never really written for a woman before, and I've never really written for another genre really before. So, these are now two things that I've got to tackle at once: I'm going to try and come up with a country song and now I'm going to try and come up with a country song being sung by a woman," Kroeger explained. "I am just tickled with it and I can't wait until she hears it. I hope that she thoroughly enjoys it."
If Hill records it, it would most likely be on a greatest hits album she has planned, said Kroeger. He got a positive vibes about it from Hill herself at the American Music Awards in January.
"I just met her at the AMAs and the first thing that she said was, 'I hear you've got a little song for me.' And I said, 'I do. I just finished it, we're just mixing it today and as a matter of fact -- and I cannot wait for you to hear it.' I'm very excited," Kroeger said.
If the AMA encounter was only the first of two big thrills for Kroeger that night. Nickelback performed "How You Remind Me," and the crowd went wild.
"That was just a dream come true. I mean, you're playing in front of some of the most jaded people in the business -- because they're all in the business -- and they are on the front lines and you're competing against them for slots at radio. I mean people are only going to stuff so many CDs in somebody's stocking," Kroeger said. "Everyone was there, from Shania Twain to Faith Hill to Linkin Park, and Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera."
The reason it was particularly fun for Kroeger, was because he has laser surgery on his eyes, which enabled him to see the crowd clearly at the smashing conclusion of performance, and the tape of it again afterward.
"Everyone jumped to their feet and gave us a standing O," Kroeger enthused. "You could not kick the grin off my face. And, when I watched it an hour later, it was so fun because here I am watching myself looking around at everybody and I have this big dumb grin on my face."
"I was just like, 'Oh my God is this really happening?' And I think everyone else, in the crowd was feeding off of that. They could see how much I was loving the fact that we were getting a standing O," Kroeger concluded. "I still can't believe all these people were standing there to applaud something I just did. That was just an absolute dream come true."
More Info: Official Nickelback Web Site
That's because with his group Nickelback and as a solo artist, he scorched the music and movie world over the past year with the smash hits "How You Remind Me" and "Hero," respectively.
The first salvo of bigger things to come came with the domination of the Billboard Music Awards, when "How You Remind Me" nabbed honors for Hot 100 Single of the Year and Top 40 Track of the Year. As a group, Nickelback grabbed the Group of the Year award from Billboard, as well as Hot 100 Single Artist of the Year.
Now Sunday, "How You Remind Me" is one of the five nominees for Grammy's Record of the Year.
But Kroeger will be doing double duty that night, when his "Spider-Man" movie anthem "Hero" -- performed with Saliva's Josey Scott -- competes for Grammys in the Best Rock Performance Duo or Group, Best Rock Song and Best Song Written For a Motion Picture categories.
Scoring two more Grammy nods than he did with Nickelback, Kroeger has made sure his fellow band mates -- bassist brother Mike Kroeger, guitarist Ryan Peake and drummer Ryan Vikedal -- know about it.
"Yeah and I love rubbing that fact in," Kroeger told me by phone during a recent tour stop in Atlanta. "I say, 'Hey, I got more nominations than you do!'"
It's probably the safe to say that Kroeger's band mates don't mind the ribbing. The latest release from the Canadian rockers -- "Silver Side Up" -- has sold more than 4 million copies in the United States and gone platinum six times over north of the border.
Having had that sort of loyal following for Nickelback (the group formed in 1996) could have been seen for a blessing or a curse for Kroeger, when he decided to stake it out on his own to record "Hero" for "Spider-Man." But whether people embraced it or panned it, Kroeger was ready to accept responsibility for his decision to go it alone.
"It was a lot of fun. I had no one else to answer to, I'm not looking over my shoulder at three other guys," Kroeger explained. "It gave me the freedom to just go. I was in charge and I was the boss. What's more fun than getting to call yourself that? And if you screw up, you screw up on your own. But if you succeed, you succeeded on your own."
Kroeger said when he decided to craft "Hero," he decided to stay away from any direct references to the Spider-Man himself. In the end, he was more influenced by the bravery of the men and women who risked and gave their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, and let his emotions take over.
"I was using Sept. 11 more as inspiration than I was the movie," Kroeger explained to me. "And because I had done that, it fits in so nicely because it stays away from anything that's literal. I'm not singing anything about, 'I'm flying around from building to building and I'm a superhero.' It's almost like the song is about something else, but relates perfectly to the movie. Something magical happened."
And because of that magic, Kroeger's been asked back to write the theme song for the sequel, titled "The Amazing Spider-Man." Although the film doesn't hit theaters until May 2004, the singer-songwriter-musician has already started to bat around ideas. He admits that he'd glad to have some time to pound it out.
"The first one was easy to write, it's this second one's that's going to be tough," Kroeger said. " So now what am I doing? I'm sitting in bed last night and I'm like trying to think of like a direction or the course or what I'm going to call the song. I can't use the word 'hero,' and I can't use anything to do with 'save us' or 'save' anybody. That's the worst. I literally hit all the good topics with 'Hero,' and I'm now I'm screwed."
He knows he'll get it eventually, so now he's just going to have fun with the idea of being unoriginal.
"What am I going to do? I'm sitting there just like okay maybe I should just call it "Hero II," Kroeger added with a laugh.
If there any immediate concerns that are pressing on Kroeger, it's the lack of time to do what needs to be done for the immediate future. But he'll figure it out.
"There's not a lot of complaining coming out of the mouth of Chad Kroeger these days," Kroeger mused. "The only complaint I have is that I'm too busy with Nickleback, to go on and do more things that I want to do. Like right now I just finished writing and recording a song for Faith Hill that I'm really, really proud of. And before, I did a song with Carlos Santana. I'm just stretching in as many different directions as I possibly can and I'm having a blast doing it."
Unlike his recent writing and producing gig for fellow rockers Theory of a Deadman, Kroeger said there's an entirely different set of challenges writing for a country music superstar. In fact, the challenges are piled high and deep, and he loves every one of them.
"I've never really written for a woman before, and I've never really written for another genre really before. So, these are now two things that I've got to tackle at once: I'm going to try and come up with a country song and now I'm going to try and come up with a country song being sung by a woman," Kroeger explained. "I am just tickled with it and I can't wait until she hears it. I hope that she thoroughly enjoys it."
If Hill records it, it would most likely be on a greatest hits album she has planned, said Kroeger. He got a positive vibes about it from Hill herself at the American Music Awards in January.
"I just met her at the AMAs and the first thing that she said was, 'I hear you've got a little song for me.' And I said, 'I do. I just finished it, we're just mixing it today and as a matter of fact -- and I cannot wait for you to hear it.' I'm very excited," Kroeger said.
If the AMA encounter was only the first of two big thrills for Kroeger that night. Nickelback performed "How You Remind Me," and the crowd went wild.
"That was just a dream come true. I mean, you're playing in front of some of the most jaded people in the business -- because they're all in the business -- and they are on the front lines and you're competing against them for slots at radio. I mean people are only going to stuff so many CDs in somebody's stocking," Kroeger said. "Everyone was there, from Shania Twain to Faith Hill to Linkin Park, and Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera."
The reason it was particularly fun for Kroeger, was because he has laser surgery on his eyes, which enabled him to see the crowd clearly at the smashing conclusion of performance, and the tape of it again afterward.
"Everyone jumped to their feet and gave us a standing O," Kroeger enthused. "You could not kick the grin off my face. And, when I watched it an hour later, it was so fun because here I am watching myself looking around at everybody and I have this big dumb grin on my face."
"I was just like, 'Oh my God is this really happening?' And I think everyone else, in the crowd was feeding off of that. They could see how much I was loving the fact that we were getting a standing O," Kroeger concluded. "I still can't believe all these people were standing there to applaud something I just did. That was just an absolute dream come true."
More Info: Official Nickelback Web SiteCopyright 2003 by Lifewhile.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
