The core of the band hails from Hanna, Alberta. They are now based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Nickelback was helped early on by Cancon, the Canadian law requiring a certain percentage of music played on Canadian radio to be from Canadian musical artists. Their second full length album, The State, propelled them to the mainstream with two Top 10 hits (one being "Leader of Men") and the follow up album Silver Side Up, with 2002's most-played single "How You Remind Me", gave them superstar status, scoring multi-format smashes on every album since.