Rockstar (Nickelback song)

"Rockstar"
Single by Nickelback
from the album All the Right Reasons
Released	July 6, 2006 (See release history)
Format	CD single, digital download
Recorded	May 2005; Mountain View Studios, Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
Genre	Southern rock[1]
Length	4:14
Label	Roadrunner
Writer(s)	Chad Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Mike Kroeger, Daniel Adair
Nickelback chronology
"Far Away" (2006) "Rockstar" (2006) "If Everyone Cared" (2007) Nickelback UK singles chronology "Savin' Me" (2006) "Rockstar" (2006) "Photograph (re-release)" (2008) Billy Gibbons/ZZ Top chronology "36-22-36" (2000) "Rockstar" (2007)
Music video "Rockstar" on YouTube

"Rockstar" is the fifth U.S. single by the Canadian alternative rock band Nickelback from their fifth studio album, All the Right Reasons (2005). It was initially only released in the United States and Canada, and has since been re-released worldwide. The lyrics feature the pretentious, materialistic desires of a wannabe rockstar, who desires lots of money, cars and women. Spoken-word vocals between each verse are provided by Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.

"Rockstar" received overwhelmingly negative reviews from music critics and is considered one of the worst songs of all time, but went on to become Nickelback's most commercial successful single ever, peaking at number two in the United Kingdom and being certified Platinum. It has also sold 4.5 million copies in the United States.^[2]

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ranked "Rockstar" at number 100 in their list of the 100 best songs of 2007.^[3] Aside from its praise from Rolling Stone and popularity, the song is considered Nickelback's worst song, and some have even labeled it one of the worst songs of all time.^[4][5] "Rockstar" was listed at number 2 in BuzzFeed's list of the 30 worst songs ever written. They said: "If aliens came to earth and asked why everyone hates Nickelback so much, this song would be a perfect explanation.^[6] A 2008 Popjustice poll voted "Rockstar" as the worst single of the year.^[7] The Guardian's Peter Robinson claimed that the song was "...a Smack the Pony skit without the laughter track; ironic, given that Rockstar is one of the most unintentionally hilarious songs of the last few years. It is also one of most confusing." He concluded his review by stating, "In summary, this song makes literally no sense and is the worst thing of all time."^[8]

The song was used to mock the band. The first panel of a 2008 Cyanide and Happiness webcomic shows Kroger performing the chorus, only for one of the strip's characters to come in in the second panel and say "yes you do, Chad Kroeger. Yes you do" to Kroger's apparent dejection.^[9] In August of that year, the song appeared in a "banned" commercial for British sofa retailer DFS in the United Kingdom featuring actors miming it while playing air guitar in front of sofas. Four months later, the advert was recognized as one of the worst of all time by a Scottish newspaper.^[10][11]

Commercial performance

During the song's original release "Far Away" was more successful on the Billboard Hot 100 and U.S. Pop charts, while "Rockstar" instead found moderate success on the rock charts. It peaked at #4 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and #37 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It entered the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #54, during its original run.

The song was re-shipped to radio for ads on 5 June 2007, and a video was made to accompany the re-release. After its re-release, became active on most charts again, reaching new peaks on numerous charts like The Hot 100, the Adult Top 40, and Pop 100. It re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number forty-seven on week ending date July 7, 2007.^[12] It also registered on charts it had previously failed to do on first release, such as the Pop 100 Airplay. "Rockstar" is now the band's best selling digital single to date in the United States, with digital sales there at 4,229,000 as of July 2013.^[13] On 12 September 2007, "Rockstar" reached a new peak of #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, faring better than "Far Away"; becoming Nickelback's third Top 10 hit from All the Right Reasons, and their fifth career Top Ten on the Hot 100 overall. "Rockstar" reached its 3,000,000 downloads mark in the U.S. in May 2009 and became the best selling rock single of the 21st century before "How You Remind Me".^[14] It reached 4 million in sales in the U.S. in June 2012, making it the band's best selling hit in that country.^[15] As of January 2015, the song has sold 4.5 million copies in the US.^[2]

"Rockstar" was a major success in the United Kingdom, and the most successful single overall of Nickelback's career there, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the UK Singles Downloads Chart. The song was released in physical form there after becoming popular online and climbing into the top 50 on downloads alone. Over two years after the release of All the Right Reasons, it became the band's biggest hit in the country, selling 587,000 copies. "Rockstar" debuted on the UK Singles Chart on October 21, 2007 ― week ending date October 27, 2007 ― and lasted almost nine months on the chart. On August 10, 2008 ― week ending date August 16, 2008 ― the song re-entered the chart. The release of "Rockstar" also helped All the Right Reasons achieve a top 10 position in the UK Albums Chart for the first time, becoming their third top 10 album there. It also pushed sales of the album there from under 200,000 to over half a million. It became the United Kingdom's fifth biggest selling single of 2008.^[16] In August 2008, the song re-entered the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart at number 27, and stayed there for an extra four weeks, taking its total of weeks in the top 40 up to 35. The song remained on the chart for 50 consecutive weeks, before falling off in October 2008.

Music video

When the song was first released in August 2006, a music video was not made for the single. Dori Oskowitz, who directed the band's "If Everyone Cared" video, returned to direct the music video for the song's re-release.^[17]

Filming outside the Reichstag in Berlin on 23 July 2007

The video features celebrities and non-celebrities lip synching to the lyrics. The non-celebrities are filmed around the world, in front of iconic landmarks, such as Times Square in New York, Millennium Park in Chicago, Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, St Pauls and Tower Bridge in London, the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in Sydney, and the Reichstag in Berlin. On screen celebrities include multiple shots of Billy Gibbons (who voices his lines in the song), Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Eliza Dushku, Dominique Swain, Gene Simmons, Wayne Gretzky, Erik Rowan, Big & Rich's John Rich, the cast of The Girls Next Door, Kid Rock, Lupe Fiasco, Twista, Nelly Furtado, the crew from American Chopper, Paul Wall, Ted Nugent, Grant Hill, Taryn Manning, Tom Petkos, Lindsey Shaw, Riki Lindhome and numerous others. Sometimes the lyric they are lip synching relates to themselves. At the end of the video Nickelback is shown playing live on stage; this shot was filmed on July 13, 2007 at the Comcast Center for the Performing Arts in Mansfield, Massachusetts.^[18]

The music video for Rockstar bears a striking resemblance in technique and form to a music video by Scott Wilson (a music video editor/musician) for the song Coffeehouse 101 which was released on March 13, 2006 (one year and five months before the release of Nickelback's Rockstar music video). The Coffeehouse 101 music video was shot between June and November 2005, finished in Los Angeles in December 2005, and features over 50 local musicians, bands and local media celebrities from San Diego, California lip synching small snippets of the lyrics and music in a variety of locations throughout the San Diego area. The Coffeehouse 101 music video has garnered approximately 40,000 hits on various sites on the web, including YouTube, Vimeo, and Yahoo Video! among other sites. Scott Wilson, the director/editor of the music video and writer/performer of the song, has edited over 100 music videos for major label music artists in all styles, ranging from the music videos for Amy Grant Baby Baby to Skid Row "I Remember You" and many others. There have subsequently been a number of music videos by prominent musicians who have also incorporated this lip synching technique using celebrities in a variety of locations, including Uncharted by Sara Bareilles, Christmas Spirit by Richard Marx, Happy by Pharrell Williams (who also appeared in the Sara Bareilles Uncharted music video prior to the release of his version), No Cities to Love by Sleater-Kinney, and Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop the Feeling music video released on May 5, 2016. See Lip Sync Videos YouTube playlist for comparison.

Track listing

Maxi-single

1. "Rockstar" (Album Version) - 4:15
2. "Rockstar" (Clean Version) - 4:15
3. "Never Again" (Live in Atlanta) - 4:16
4. "Photograph" (Live in Atlanta) - 4:38
5. "Rockstar" (Video)

Pop culture references

The song makes several references to American popular culture: MTV Cribs (Chad Kroeger, the band's frontman, appeared on an episode of the show), the Playboy Mansion and Playmates, and a spot between James Dean and Cher on Hollywood's Walk of Fame (Nickelback is already on Canada's Walk of Fame^[19]). The lyrics can be taken as generalization of the stereotypical rockstar lifestyle celebrating material success at the expense of artistic integrity. The material desires of the rockstar are listed, but the practice needed to become proficient at rock music is never mentioned. For example:

“

I want a brand new house on an episode of Cribs And a bathroom I can play baseball in... I want a new tour bus full of old guitars My own star on Hollywood Boulevard[20]

”

The song has been compared to earlier satirical odes to the rockstar lifestyle, including Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" (1985), Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good" (1978), Dr. Hook's "Cover of the Rolling Stone" (1973), The Jam's "To Be Someone" from their album All Mod Cons (1978), The Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" (1967), AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" (1975), Cypress Hill's "(Rock)" and "(Rap) Superstar" (2000) and most recently Weezer's "Beverly Hills" (2005).

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2006–08) Peak position Australian Physical Singles (ARIA)[21] 60 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[22] 5 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[23] 23 Bulgarian Singles Chart 36 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[24] 39 Czech Airplay Chart 17 Denmark (Tracklisten)[25] 32 European Hot 100 Singles 7 Germany (Official German Charts)[26] 23 Ireland (IRMA)[27] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[28] 14 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[29] 28 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[30] 10 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 14 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[32] 2 UK Download (Official Charts Company)[33] 1 UK Rock and Metal (Official Charts Company)[34] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[35] 6 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[36] 4 US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[37] 37 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[38] 6 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[39] 6

Year-end charts Chart (2008) Rank UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[40] 5 Decade-end charts Chart (2000–2009) Peak position UK Top 100 Songs of the Decade[41] 54 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments United Kingdom (BPI)[42] Platinum 600,000 United States 4,500,000[2] ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Country	Release date	Version
United States	August 21, 2006	Original
	June 6, 2007	Re-release
United Kingdom	November 12, 2007

References

1. "All The Right Reasons". Rhapsody.
2. Grein, Paul (January 31, 2015). "The 15 Most Downloaded Songs in Rock History". Yahoo! Music.
3. "The 100 Best Songs of 2007". Archived at Wayback Machine. Rolling Stone. 11 December 2007. Archived from the original on February 1, 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
4. Robinson, Peter (9 February 2008). "How bad can Nickelback be? Phenomenally, says Peter Robinson". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
5. "To See or Not to See: Nickelback". Metro. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
6. Broderick, Ryan (12 June 2012). "These are the 30 of the worst songs ever written". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
7. "Popjustice Readers’ Poll Results 2008". Popjustice. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
8. Robinson, Peter (9 February 2008). "How bad can Nickelback be? Phenomenally, says Peter Robinson". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
9. McElfatrick, Dave (January 27, 2008). "Cyanide & Happiness #1156"". Explosm.net. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
10. "10 of the best - worst adverts of all time". Daily Record. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
11. Sweney, Mark (11 December 2008). "The worst TV ads of 2008: Federer, Woods and Henry take a bow". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
12. Billboard Hot 100, Issue Date: Saturday July 7th, 2007 αCharts.us
13. Paul Grein (July 17, 2013). "Week Ending July 14, 2013. Songs: Seven For Jay-Z". Chart Watch (Yahoo).
14. "Yahoo Music".
15. "Week Ending June 10, 2012. Songs: No Maybes About It". 14 June 2012.
16. "Duffy and Burke top 2008 charts". BBC. 29 December 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
17. Video Static: Music Video News: June 3, 2007 - June 9, 2007
18. Nickelback - Rockstar [OFFICIAL VIDEO]. 14 August 2007 – via YouTube.
19. MouthMedia. "Canada's Walk of Fame".
20. "Nickelback - Rockstar Lyrics - SongMeanings". SongMeanings.
21. ARIA Report 918. Retrieved 2012-10-12
22. "Austriancharts.at – Nickelback – Rockstar" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
23. "Ultratop.be – Nickelback – Rockstar" (in French). Ultratop 50.
24. "Nickelback – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Nickelback.
25. "Danishcharts.com – Nickelback – Rockstar". Tracklisten.
26. "Offiziellecharts.de – Nickelback – Rockstar". GfK Entertainment Charts.
27. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Rockstar". Irish Singles Chart.
28. "Dutchcharts.nl – Nickelback – Rockstar" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
29. "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200745 into search.
30. "Swedishcharts.com – Nickelback – Rockstar". Singles Top 100.
31. "Swisscharts.com – Nickelback – Rockstar". Swiss Singles Chart.
32. "Archive Chart: 2008-02-10" UK Singles Chart.
33. "Archive Chart: 2008-02-10" UK Download Chart.
34. "Archive Chart: 2008-02-10" UK Rock Chart.
35. "Nickelback – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Nickelback.
36. "Nickelback – Chart history" Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for Nickelback.
37. "Nickelback – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for Nickelback.
38. "Nickelback – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Nickelback.
39. "Nickelback – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Nickelback.
40. "Chart Plus Year End 2008" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
41. Radio 1 Official Chart of the Decade, as broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on December 29, 2009, presented by DJ Nihal
42. "British single certifications – Nickelback – Rockstar". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 28, 2015. Enter Rockstar in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

• Rockstar Lyrics at Nickelback's official site
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics