As honours go there’s zero disputing that this one is more than deserved. Also, who gives a shit if things started in Hannah, Alberta, because we’re claiming Nickelback as our West Coast own.

The BC Entertainment Hall of Fame has announced that Vancouver’s most successful band of the past two decades will get a star on Granville Street’s StarWalk this Wednesday. The ceremony, at 3:30pm in the 800-block outside the Commodore, marks Nickelback’s induction into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame.

Suggesting singer Chad Kroeger and company will be on hand, the group headlines Rogers Arena later that night. 

In announcing the event, BCEHOF president Bill Allman said, “An artist that has reached the international heights that Nickelback has reached provides exactly the type of inspiration that the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame exists to recognize. If you aspire to professional success in any entertainment discipline, we are behind you and are here to celebrate you.”

All that might be underselling things a bit. After coming up through the Vancouver club scene in the postgrunge late ’90s, Nickelback began making mainstream inroads with The State and Silver Side Up. And they went fucking stratsopheric with 2001’s dead-perfect “How You Remind Me”, that kicking off two decades of platinum records, chart-topping hits, and sold-out stadium tours.

Need a short list of Top 10 songs that every band in Vancouver wishes that it had written? (And, by Top 10, we’re talking in America, not CanCon Canada.)

Here you go: “Photograph”, “Burn It to the Ground”, “Rockstar”, “Someday”, “This Afternoon”, “Leader of Men”, “Too Bad”, “Never Again”, “Animals”, “Side of a Bullet”, “Something in Your Mouth”, “Bottoms Up”, “Edge of Revolution”, “San Quentin”, and, well you get the idea.

Also, umm, “How You Remind Me”.

Along the way Nickelback has famously taken plenty of shit from those who value 10.0 review on Pitchfork more than songwriting that leads to legitimate rock-star status. 

We here at the Straight have long been fans of Nickelback, party because Kroeger has proven himself the kind of superstar that’s not only geniunely decent, but can actually laugh at himself (including his early 2000s hair, which we once described as a “a one-man tribute to the Cowardly Lion”.

In between, that is, depositing platinum-size royalty cheques, hanging out with Nardwuar the Human Serviette, and getting the last laugh on Corey Taylor (who, last we checked, had yet to earn the respect of folks like Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

Sometimes Hanna’s loss is Vancouver’s gain.

Nickelback

What: BC Entertainment Hall of Fame StarWalk Ceremony

Where: 800-block Granville Street

When: June 28, 3:30pm

More info: BC Entertainment Hall of Fame