During a new exclusive interview with Tellus Rock, Chad Kroeger disclosed a concealed homage to Mark Knopfler within Nickelback’s ‘Rockstar.’
When the host asked the singer about the writing process of ‘Rockstar,’ he said:
“I’ve met a lot of people who are the best at what they do, and there is one universal thread with all of them, and they will all say the same thing. Yes, I do. I drive an F1 car, and I’m the best in the world, whatever it is, but I always wanted to be a rock star, and there was that common thing through all of them.”
Unveiling The Homage To Knopfler
Explaining the intention behind the song and its connection to Knopfler, Kroeger continued:
“Everybody on the planet wants to be a rock star or feel like a rock star or whatever that would be. Then all I did was just plug that sentiment into the first line, ‘We all just wanna be big rock stars,’ and then you go. You just start listing all the things: live in Hilltop houses, driving 15 cars, the girls come easy, and the drugs come cheap, which is almost a reference to a Mark Knopfler song, which would be ‘Money for Nothing.'”
Inspiration From ‘Money For Nothing’
The rocker added the following about his reference to the popular Dire Straits song:
“‘Money for nothin’ and chicks for free.’ It’s almost that kind of thing because he was saying the same thing in there. That’s the way you do it. you play the guitar on MTV. So that was the same sort of sentiment. So I’m sort of nodding to what he was saying.”
Behind The Lyrics Of ‘Rockstar’
‘Rockstar’ has been one of Nickelback’s most famous songs since its release in 2006. Speaking on the Kyle Meredith With… podcast in 2020, the band’s bassist Mike Kroeger also revealed the meaning behind the track, noting:
“The stuff we wrote, those lyrics – we were thinking about, ‘how absurd can we possibly be?’ We wanted to write a song of absurdity, of comedy. The topics that we touched on in those lyrics we still find preposterous to this day. It’s just funny stuff and all the ‘Spinal Tap’ stories that are based and rooted in fact, which makes them even more funny- I think.”
He also said that many rock band stories, like throwing TVs out of hotel rooms, are just myths. Mike then mentioned that most songs on their album ‘All the Right Reasons’ reflect Chad’s personal experiences. Mike believes that the singer should write the lyrics since they are more meaningful when they come from personal thoughts and experiences.
Below, you can watch the full interview and listen to the song.
