Many jokes have been made at the expense of scorned arena rockers Nickelback, but it took an unwelcome meme from divisive U.S. President Donald Trump to rally public support for the oft-maligned Canadian band.

Defenders came out of the woodwork this week after Trump enlisted one of the bandB次元官网网址檚 biggest hits of the aughts in his ongoing campaign against former vice-president Joe Biden, a dispute that has spiralled into impeachment proceedings.

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The line crossed involved the video for NickelbackB次元官网网址檚 2005 earworm B次元官网网址淧hotograph,B次元官网网址� which had been altered to include an image of Biden and his son standing alongside a Ukrainian gas executive and another manB次元官网网址� an obvious reference to TrumpB次元官网网址檚 unsubstantiated claims that the current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential primary wielded inappropriate influence in his sonB次元官网网址檚 business dealings while in office.

A Twitter spokeswoman said Thursday the video link was removed due to a copyright complaint, but by then an apparent movement to reclaim the bandB次元官网网址檚 pre-Trump stature was already well underway.

B次元官网网址淒onald Trump Drags Innocent Canadian Icons Nickelback Into Impeachment MessB次元官网网址� a HuffPost headline huffed, a perspective bolstered by a flurry of similarly sympathetic tweets and social media comments.

B次元官网网址淗asnB次元官网网址檛 Nickelback suffered enough?B次元官网网址� one popular tweet deadpanned, liked nearly 11,500 times by Friday morning.

B次元官网网址淎nd just like that, Trump made Nickelback cool,B次元官网网址� declared another.

Of course, Nickelback is still not cool by current pop culture metrics, but music industry veteran and ardent Nickelback booster Eric Alper suspects general distaste for Trump likely helped engender some sympathy for lead singer Chad Kroeger and his bandmates.

Still, he argues there is a hidden affection for the band that heretofore has not been acknowledged.

B次元官网网址淭here are a lot more Nickelback fans than most people realize,B次元官网网址� says Alper, tracing more than a decade of public vitriol to professional critics B次元官网网址渨ho were a little bit holier-than-thou.B次元官网网址�

Indeed, there has been a rare display of advocacy for the Hanna, Alta., rockers, otherwise panned by hipsters and tastemakers for a formulaic guitar-driven post-grunge bro-sound made all the more ignoble for its chart-topping popularity.

B次元官网网址淲hy do people not like Nickelback? I feel like Nickelback gets way too much (crap); I think this is a jam!B次元官网网址� the almighty Lizzo proclaimed while listening to B次元官网网址淗ow You Remind MeB次元官网网址� for a recent episode of CBCB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淛am or Not a JamB次元官网网址� series.

B次元官网网址淚 think they get a lot of (crap) because (Kroeger) had a curly blond perm. ThatB次元官网网址檚 the only reason they get (crap) because this is an amazing song.B次元官网网址�

Rising star Charlotte Cardin also put her indie cred behind the group in January when she offered a stripped down take on B次元官网网址淗ow You Remind MeB次元官网网址� for CBCB次元官网网址檚 music covers series, Junos 365, insisting the once-ubiquitous power ballad has been judged unfairly.

B次元官网网址淚 genuinely love the song,B次元官网网址� she says in a preamble.

Fuelling prospective redemption is a wave of B次元官网网址�90s nostalgia, adds Alper, noting the requisite 20 years needed for retro lookbacks to invade pop culture now point directly to NickelbackB次元官网网址檚 emergence in the late B次元官网网址�90s/early B次元官网网址�00s.

Indeed, fashion blogs are awash in hair scrunchies, overalls and fanny packs, while TV and streaming schedules are dotted with oldies and remakes including B次元官网网址淔riends,B次元官网网址� a revived B次元官网网址淲ill & Grace,B次元官网网址� and upcoming reboots of B次元官网网址淢ad About YouB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淧arty of Five.B次元官网网址�

Plus, music streaming services make it easy for fans to revisit yesteryearB次元官网网址檚 favourites without stigma, says Alper, who suggests that Nickelback, as well as NSync, the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera are being rediscovered with genuine approbation.

B次元官网网址�(Streaming) is allowing people to have truly easy access to music that they can listen to in their own home or on their own device without actually having to go publicly and buy something and maybe get snark from the record store guy,B次元官网网址� says Alper, noting those in their formative years in the late B次元官网网址�90s are in their late 30s to early 50s today.

B次元官网网址淭hose people who are now older who canB次元官网网址檛 find anything on the radio that speaks to them actually go back into those times where they were listening to music in a big way and (are) maybe taking a look at Nickelback again and re-evaluating how good they were.B次元官网网址�

It might explain the results of a favourable poll MacleanB次元官网网址檚 did in honour of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 150th that found 69 per cent of those asked considered Nickelback B次元官网网址渁 national treasure.B次元官网网址�

And sure, there will always be those who harbour a furious rage against Nickelback, a curious phenomenon unique even among other derided bands B次元官网网址� Hootie & the Blowfish, Creed, the Spin Doctors among them B次元官网网址� but that would only make the groupB次元官网网址檚 eventual resurrection that much sweeter for devotees like Alper.

HeB次元官网网址檚 quick to point out that Bruce Springsteen, Journey, the Eagles, and AC/DC suffered their own spurned periods before ascending to revered positions today.

If that could one day be NickelbackB次元官网网址檚 fate, theyB次元官网网址檇 have no less than the President of the United States of America to thank for it.

B次元官网网址淭hose guilty pleasures arenB次元官网网址檛 really guilty anymore,B次元官网网址� says Alper.

Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press

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