What’s in a name? If you’re Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, it doesn’t really matter because we’ve been mispronouncing his for literal decades.
This discovery comes via Loudwire Nights. Host Toni Gonzalez opened her new interview with Kroeger asking him to confirm the pronunciation. Was his last name pronounced like the popular grocery store chain or like the Nightmare on Elm Street villain? Turns out, it’s the latter!
When asked why he’s never corrected anyone when they mispronounced his surname, Kroeger said, “I never get time, because it goes, ‘Hey, here we are with Chad ‘Kro-ger. So, how are things going?’ It gets so far in [to the interview] by time I get to say something…If I just stop and go, ‘Actually, it’s ‘Kru-ger’, I’m gonna look like such a [expletive]. So, I’m just like, whatever. I don’t care.” (How Canadian of him?)
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Kroeger then went on to recall a story of doing an interview with Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell early in Nickelback’s career. The interviewer pronounced Kroeger’s name wrong, and Cantrell stepped in with the correction.
“I sort of looked over at Jerry, and he goes, ‘It’s your name, dude. That is your last name. Tell that dude across there how to say it properly so that he stops saying it wrong into that microphone and misinforming people. That is your last name, brother,'” recalled Kroeger. “I was like, ‘Wow you really care about this s—!'”
Something Kroeger likely cares a lot about is Nickelback’s upcoming tenth studio album, Get Rollin’. Due out November 18, its lead single “San Quentin” can be heard below. The LP is available for pre-save on digital platforms here. For those looking for a physical copy and album merch, that’s available for pre-order at Nickelback.com.