Mike Kroeger

Michael Douglas Henry Kroeger (born June 25, 1972) is a Canadian musician, best known as the bassist and a founding member of the rock band Nickelback. The group was formed in his hometown of Hanna, Alberta in 1995 with his younger brother Chad Kroeger, cousin Brandon Kroeger, and good friend and schoolmate Ryan Peake. Nickelback rose to international prominence in the early 2000s, most notably after the release of their third studio album Silver Side Up which featured the 2001 single How You Remind Me, which was awarded the title of "most-played song" of 2002 and "most-played" song of the decade that received radio airplay from the years 2000-2010. Kroeger has remained a core member over the course of his band's career, being featured on every release since the group's inception in 1995 that includes The State (2000), Silver Side Up (2001), The Long Road (2003), All the Right Reasons (2005), Dark Horse (2008), Here and Now (2011), No Fixed Address (2014), Feed the Machine (2017), Get Rollin (2022).

Mike Kroeger was born on June 25, 1972, in Hanna, Alberta, to Debbie Kroeger; he is the older brother of his band's lead singer, Chad Kroeger. Raised by their mother, the brothers shared a close relationship despite differing personalities. Chad began playing guitar around the age of 13, which influenced Mike's interest in playing music himself. However, instead of learning to play regular guitar, Kroeger decided to try playing a 1978 Fender Precision Bass guitar that belonged to his grandfather, who was a bassist in a local band. Kroeger later stated that the bass guitar "just spoke to me," and he found it appealing to choose an instrument less commonly played among his peers.

Kroeger married his longtime girlfriend Angela Marie Papp on January 23, 2000. The couple has two children: son Dawson Kroeger, born on May 6, 2001, and daughter Avalon Kroeger, born on June 6, 2003. Upon turning 18, Dawson launched his own music career, forming an indie alternative rock band called "The Props."

Kroeger is a passionate fan of the National Hockey League team the Detroit Red Wings.

Kroeger obtains dual citizenship from both Canada and the United States and currently resides in Los Angeles.

He co-founded the band in his hometown of Hanna, Alberta in 1995 with his younger brother Chad Kroeger as lead singer, his cousin Brandon Kroeger as the drummer, and long-time, close friend Ryan Peake as the lead guitarist. Originally named "Village Idiots" and performing as a cover band, frustrated with playing covers, the band began writing and performing their own original material, prompting the band to choose a more original name, eventually settling on "Nickelback". Later on in the band's career after achieving widespread fame and global recognition, Kroeger revealed in an interview that he came up with the name during a period of time while he was working at a Starbucks in Vancouver where coffee would cost $1.95 and people would pay $2.0, stating that he would frequently hand customers their change back after paying for their purchase and would frequently say to them, “Here's your nickel back.”

After Kroeger and the band had written enough original material for their debut release, in late 1995, Chad Kroeger convinced his and Mike's stepfather to loan them CA$4,000 (approx. US$3,000 at the time) to fund the recording of their first release—a seven-track EP that would become their 1996 debut, Hesher. In later interviews, the band revealed that only half of the loan was used for recording expenses, while the other half was used by Chad to purchase magic mushrooms, which he planned to resell to fund future band activities.

The band independently released their debut Hesher on March 10, 1996, which was soon followed up by their first full-length album Curb a few months later in 1996. The band signed a record and distribution deal with EMI Canada in 1998 and released their sophomore album titled The State that same year which gained traction on Canadian radio due to new Can-con regulations, which contributed to the success of his band's singles from 2000, Worthy to Say and Breathe.