How 9/11 Launched Nickelback To Stardom

September 11, 2001 is a date everyone remembers for the obvious reasons. It’s also the day Nickelback’s third studio album, "Silver Side Up", officially dropped. But, did you remember that?

Putting it bluntly: the album’s release barely registered on the day the world changed. Chad Kroeger recalled being on the tour bus in Pennsylvania, “glued to the TV,” and then someone remembered, “Holy shit, our record came out today!”

Kroeger said it immediately felt like an afterthought, “Everyone just thought the world was ending.” Thankfully for the band, the album endured.

Despite the terrible timing, "Silver Side Up" didn’t vanish. The lead single “How You Remind Me” exploded into the mainstream and the album vaulted Nickelback from a Canadian alt-rock niche band, into global heavyweights.

Production by Rick Parashar and mixes by Randy Staub helped give the record its radio-ready, arena-ready punch: big hooks, muscular guitars, and emotive choruses.

There’s an awkward, almost painful juxtaposition to the album’s history. A commercial breakthrough forever stamped with an awful date. Even AP learned the sensitivity — a 20th anniversary social post linking the album to 9/11 drew major backlash and was deleted.

Still, time has separated the trauma of that morning from the music’s cultural impact. "Silver Side Up" remains the Nickelback record people point to for delivering the band’s signature sound.

They're the sort of mainstream hooks that kept rock radio alive for the 2000s. In short, it could have been forgotten, but instead it rose above. And like any solid radio track, it found its audience when they needed it most, even if they didn’t know it at the time.