Chad Kroeger on vocal cord operation: ‘When I woke I sounded just like the loser from Nickelback’

Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger has spoken about his vocal cord surgery in 2015 with self-deprecating humour.

Author: Scott ColothanPublished 19th Jun 2017

The Canadian rock giants were forced to postpone their entire European tour two years back when Chad underwent surgery for a cyst on his voice box.

In a fresh interview with Dutch media outlet FaceCulture (via Blabbermouth), Chad was asked if he was worried the procedure might affect his singing.

"Sure, I was a little worried, but I was in really good hands,” Chad said. “You never know how you're going to sound or what's going to happen or if you're never going to be able to sing again, but when I woke up, I sounded just like the loser from Nickelback.”


Chad continued: “I was very happy when I first started speaking. Once I went through rehabilitation and was seeing this vocal coach, I remember the very first time he warmed me up really, really well.

“He had me singing for a long time, but at no point in time did I push it and get that grind going like the vocal distortion, the overdriven vocal sound sort of thing. I got in my car and I turned, I can't remember what song it was, but I turned it up a little bit and I was like 'I want to see what this sounds like.'

“My heart would be broken if I did that much warming up, like three and a half, four months after my surgery and I can't sing. That's a pretty good indicator, I should at least be able to see and have a glimpse. I went for one and it was all there. I was, like, 'Whoa!' I went for another one and I went really high, like really, really high.

“I had Goosebumps. I almost had tears in my eyes. I started calling Mike (Kroeger) and I called Ryan (Peake) and I was, like, 'Listen to this!' It was so high. I can't sing that high now because it's come back down; now it's back where it was. It was like I had a cape on; I felt like Superman. It was pretty cool."

Asked if the Nickelback bashing bandwagon ever irks him, Chad said: "No. My song writing is never influenced by what anyone else thinks. It's always the band. The band is… that is the voting group. Whatever the band allows.”

Boasting the singles ‘Feed The Machine’, ‘Song On Fire’ and ‘Must Be Nice’, Nickelback’s ninth studio album ‘Feed the Machine’ was released last Friday (16th June).

You can check out some of Nickelback’s finest Twitter comebacks in all their glory here: 

> .@Schwarzenegger big fans. Approval rate this: Batman & Robin. Please leave us out of your future wisdom drops. Danke Shön Herr Governator. > > — Nickelback (@Nickelback) February 14, 2017

> @Schwarzenegger well played, sir. #Respect > > — Nickelback (@Nickelback) February 14, 2017

> @realDonaldTrump + @HillaryClinton = @Nickelback ?? > > — Royal Blood (@royalblooduk) October 7, 2016

> NIckelback jokes are like @royalblooduk, they were a lot cooler a couple years ago. ?? Don't drink and tweet fellas. Stay safe. XO https://t.co/Gb1IizED4c > > — Nickelback (@Nickelback) October 8, 2016

> @corymyoung we thought about it. But how else could we cause you so much torment? So worth it. A lifetime of tunes just for you. #enjoy > > — Nickelback (@Nickelback) January 21, 2012

> @mybueno we blame you. Not sure for what, but it was definitely you. > > — Nickelback (@Nickelback) January 22, 2012

> @simetradon I bet it was the best day you've had in awhile. #yourwelcome > > — Nickelback (@Nickelback) January 22, 2012

> @AJJussila way to go Mom. Atta girl > > — Nickelback (@Nickelback) January 22, 2012