Among the many friends he has made in the rock and metal community, two close friends of Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger were the late Pantera members Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul. Along with the artists enjoying each other’s company, they also enjoyed each other’s respective music.
And when it came to metalheads who had something to say about the brothers’ love for Nickelback, Dime and Paul would “defend” how much they enjoyed the band’s music.
At one point during an interview with 97.9 WGRD’s Tommy Carroll, Kroeger opened up about his past relationship with the brothers. Among the stories he shared, Kroeger talked about how Paul and Dime would “defend” their love of Nickelback when questioned by the metal community. Speaking about how the brothers would stand up for Nickelback, Kroeger says (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“Vinnie Paul and Dimebag used to say all the time. When the metal community would come down on those guys and be, like, ‘What’s with this love for Nickelback? I don’t get it.’ And they would defend us, and it was really, really lovely. They were, like, ‘Go watch ’em play. And then say they suck. Or then say something negative about them.’
“Because my favorite thing is when someone comes to the show, and they go, ‘Honestly, I wouldn’t call myself a fan, but I would definitely go see that show again.’ I’m, like, ‘I’ll take that. I’ll take that all day long. That’s a hell of a compliment.'”
That’s really awesome to hear how Dime and Vinnie would stand up for Nickelback; as two of the most talented metal musicians of all time, it must’ve meant a great deal to Nickelback to hear support from them.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Kroeger talked about how the death of Dimebag Darrell impacted him:
“That one hurt. I had a tough time — really tough time — with that one for such a long time. You’d see him on [the cover of] a guitar magazine or something like that, and I’d be standing there in a grocery store. And my girlfriend would go to pull me. She’s, like, ‘C’mon, let’s go.’ And she can’t move me. And then she looks over and there’s just tears streaming down my face. And I’m, like, ‘Ugh.’ And she’s, like, ‘Do you wanna go home?’ And I’m, like, ‘Yup. I wanna go home right now.'”
Also during this conversation, the Nickelback frontman shared that both Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul were “talented, down-home, amazing individuals.”
