Rockstar (Nickelback song)

"Rockstar"
Single by Nickelback from the album All the Right Reasons
Released	August 2006/June 2007 12 November 2007
Format	CD single Airplay Digital download
Recorded	2005 in Abbotsford, BC, Canada
Genre	Hard rock / Country Rock
Length	4:15
Label	Roadrunner
Writer	Chad Kroeger, Nickelback
Nickelback singles chronology
"Savin' Me" (2006) "Rockstar" (2006) "If Everyone Cared" (2006)

"Rockstar" is a song by the Canadian rock band Nickelback from their 2005 fifth studio album All the Right Reasons. It was only released in the U.S. and Canada, and has since been re-released worldwide. Spoken-word vocals between each verse are provided by Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.

Contents 1 Release and re-release 2 Song meaning 3 Music video 4 Charts 5 Pop Culture References 6 Parodies 7 Citations 8 External links

Release and re-release

It was originally released as the fifth single off the album in the U.S., Canada and Germany, around the same time as the fourth U.S. single "Far Away". During the song's original release "Far Away" was more successful on the U.S. 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. Because the song was released so close together with "Far Away" the band opted to shoot a video for "Far Away" and a video for "Rockstar" was not made originally. The song was re-shipped to radio for ads on June 5, 2007, and a video was made to accompany the re-release. Since its re-release, the song has experienced great mainstream success, and has become active on most charts again, reaching new peaks on numerous charts like The Hot 100, the Adult Top 40, and Pop 100. It has also registered on charts it didn't the first time, such as the Pop 100 Airplay. The song climbed as high as #3 on iTunes top 100 selling songs as well as #1 on the chart of the most downloaded music video on iTunes. When iTunes released their Top Sellers of 2007, "Rockstar" was the 14th best selling digital song of 2007, and the "Rockstar" video was the #1 selling music video on iTunes for 2007. On September 12, 2007, "Rockstar" reached a new peak of #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking higher than "Far Away" did, becoming Nickelback's third Top 10 hit from "All the Right Reasons", their fifth career Hot 100 Top Ten overall. Upon the songs' re-release it also has become the most successful single from All the Right Reasons' in the UK, where, currently, it has reached #19. The single was released in physical form in the UK after it was apparent that the song was going to be a success, having climbed into the top 50 on downloads alone. This song was #100 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007, despite the fact that the band has been consistently criticized by the publication.^[1]

Song meaning

The song details the stereotype that most people have about the life of a rockstar. The lead singer, Chad Kroeger, assumes the role of a person wanting to get to that life. It also features many clichés and popular beliefs of what fame can get one, such as:

"I want a brand new house/ on an episode of Cribs/ And a bathroom I can play baseball in/
And a king size tub big enough/ for ten plus me/
I’ll need a credit card that’s got no limit/ And a big black jet with a bedroom in it/
Gonna join the mile high club/ At thirty-seven thousand feet/
I want a new tour bus full of old guitars/ My own star on Hollywood Boulevard/ Somewhere between Cher and James Dean/ Is fine for me." ^[2]

Music video

When the song was first released in August 2006, a music video was not made for the single. On 2007-06-07 it was reported on VideoStatic.com that a video was being planned. Dori Oskowitz, who directed the band's "If Everyone Cared" video, returned to direct the music video for the song's re-release.^[3] The video would go on to become the top selling music video of 2007 on iTunes. The video features celebrities and non-celebrities lip synching to the lyrics. The non-celebrities are often filmed in front of iconic landmarks, such as Times Square in New York and Millenium Park in Chicago. Celebrities include Billy Gibbons (who voices his lines in the song), Dominique Swain, Nelly Furtado, Kid Rock, Eliza Dushku, John Rich, Gene Simmons, Ted Nugent, Taryn Manning, the Naked Cowboy, Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kendra Wilkinson, Holly Madison, and Bridget Marquardt from The Girls Next Door, Paul Wall, Wayne Gretzky, Washington, D.C. area DJ Elliot Segal, Federico Castelluccio, Grant Hill, Lupe Fiasco, Twista, and the crew from American Chopper among 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 2007-07-13 at the Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts in Mansfield, Massachusetts.^[4] A thread on Yahoo Answers kicked off an attempt to list everyone in the separate shots in the video but still missed lots of people and places.^[5] Here's the most current list on the net of all identified participants so far (includes many additions from other sources) and the lyric associated with their shot:

1. Boy at a baseball field "I'm through with standing in line to clubs I'll never get in"
2. Woman in front of the Cloud Gate "It's like the bottom of the ninth"
3. Man in front of the Flatiron Building "and I'm never gonna win"
4. Cindy Taylor on a pool float "this life hasn't turned out"
5. Old woman on the Millennium Bridge (London) in front of St. Paul's Cathedral "Quite the way I want it to be"
6. Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top "Tell me what you want" (voiceover)
7. Wayne Gretzky "I want a brand-new house"
8. Three women in Times Square "on an episode of Cribs"
9. Kendra Wilkinson in front of the Playboy Mansion "and a bathroom I can play baseball in"
10. New York City policeman "and a king size tub"
11. Gene Simmons of KISS in front of his wall of gold and platinum records "big enough for ten"
12. Paul Wall in front of a highway "plus me"
13. Billy Gibbons again "Yeah, so whatcha need" (voiceover)
14. Park ranger at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park "I need uh, a credit card"
15. Dominique Swain in a bubblebath "that's got no limit"
16. Three men (one US MP, one East German border guard, and one civilian) at Checkpoint Charlie facing the American Sector "and a big black jet"
17. Twista riding in a limo "with a bedroom in it"
18. Man in Grand Central Terminal "gonna join the mile-high club"
19. Holly Madison in the Playboy Mansion grotto "at 37,000 feet"
20. Woman in Los Angeles "been there, done that" (Billy Gibbons voiceover)
21. Street musician in Union Square "I want a new tour bus"
22. Same street musician with performers in Union Square "full of old guitars"
23. Three girls on the bank of the Chicago River in front of Marina City "my own star on Hollywood Boulevard"
24. Gene Simmons again "somewhere between Cher"
25. Paul Teutul, Sr. of Orange County Choppers "and James Dean is fine for me"
26. Billy Gibbons again "So how you gonna do it?" (voiceover)
27. John Rich on a pool table with a banjo "I'm gonna trade this life"
28. Woman in Union Square "for fortune and fame"
29. UFC fighter Chuck "Iceman" Lidell "I'll even cut my hair"
30. Joe Hahn from Linkin Park in a Chinese restaurant "and change my name"
31. Two Daisy Duke wannabes in front of a General Lee-inspired RV "'cause we all just wanna be"
32. Eight kids in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge "big rock stars"
33. Wayne Gretzky again "and live in hill-top houses"
34. Parking valet at Jones Hollywood in West Hollywood "driving fifteen cars"
35. Old man on the bank of the River Thames in front of the Houses of Parliament "the girls come easy and the (drugs) come cheap"
36. Jenna Westerbeck sunbathing "we'll all stay skinny"
37. Kid Rock "cause we just won't eat/and we'll"
38. Twista again "hang out in the coolest bars"
39. Jessie Coleman in Grand Central Terminal "in the VIP"
40. Eliza Dushku "with the movie stars"
41. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. "every good gold digger's"
42. Taryn Manning "gonna wind up there"
43. Paul Wall again "every Playboy bunny"
44. Two women in the middle of Davie Street "with her bleach-blond hair"
45. Jerry Cantrell under Chicago's El tracks and in front of Double Door "and we'll / hey, hey"
46. Liam Lynch in Union Square "I wanna be a"
47. Nelly Furtado on tour bus "rock star"
48. Man in front of a highway (same as as Paul Wall above)
49. Man in Union Square
50. Two women in Grand Central Terminal "hey"
51. Chuck Liddell with Elliot Segal from DC101 in a headlock"hey"
52. Boy in grocery store "I wanna be a rock star"
53. Paul Teutul, Jr., Paul Teutul, Sr., and Mikey from Orange County Choppers
54. Man in front of Marina City "I wanna be great like Elvis"
55. Elvis impersonator "without the tassels"
56. Federico Castelluccio from The Sopranos "hire eight bodyguards"
57. Chuck Liddell again "who love to beat up (assholes)"
58. Grant Hill signing basketball "sign a couple autographs so I can"
59. Man in Union Square again "eat my meals for free"
60. Billy Gibbons again "I'll have the quesadilla" (voiceover)
61. Paul Wall again
62. Man and woman in the middle of Davie Street "I'm gonna dress my (ass)"
63. Ted Nugent "with the latest fashion"
64. Man and woman in front of the Cloud Gate "get a front-door key"
65. Kendra Wilkinson, Holly Madison, and Bridget Marquardt from The Girls Next Door "to the Playboy mansion"
66. Man in front of the Flatiron Building "Gonna date a centerfold"
67. Two men in Washington Square Park "that loves to blow my money for me"
68. Billy Gibbons again "So how you gonna do it" (voiceover)
69. Paul Teutul, Sr. again "I'm gonna trade this life"
70. Man and woman in front of the Reichstag building "for fortune and fame"
71. Jordan Carlos overlooking Los Angeles "I'd even cut my hair"
72. Man in front of the New York Stock Exchange "and change my name"
73. Man at a pink bus-stop bench on Davie Street "'cause we all just wanna be"
74. Lupe Fiasco on a table "big rockstars"
75. Woman in front of the Brandenburg Gate "and live in hill-top houses"
76. Woman in front of the Chicago Theater "driving fifteen cars"
77. Two women at the beach "the girls come easy"
78. Taryn Manning again "and the (drugs) come cheap"
79. Eliza Dushku again "we'll all stay skinny"
80. Woman in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge "'cause we just won't eat"
81. Three women dancing "and we'll hang out in the coolest bars"
82. Gene Simmons again "in the VIP"
83. Dominique Swain again "with the movie stars"
84. Lupe Fiasco again "every good gold-digger's"
85. Chuck Liddell again "gonna wind up there"
86. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. again "every Playboy bunny"
87. Two girls in Times Square "with her bleach-blond hair"
88. Man in front of Beverly Hills High School "and we'll hide out in the private rooms"
89. Eliza Dushku again "with the latest dictionary"
90. Federico Castelluccio again "of today's who's who"
91. Riki Lindhome at the beach "they'll get you anything with that evil smile"
92. Kid Rock again "everybody's got a (drug dealer) on speed dial, well"
93. Steel worker "hey, hey I wanna be a rock star"
94. John Rich again, smashing guitar
95. Three women in the middle of Davie Street "I'm gonna sing those songs that offend the censors"
96. Te'DeVan Rocketman Wacha Kurzweil in Union Square "gonna pop my (pills) from a Pez dispenser"
97. Lupe Fiasco again "get washed-up singers"
98. Boy at a mixing board "writing all my songs"
99. Woman overlooking Los Angeles "lip-synch 'em every night"
100. Man in yellow shirt at City Market in Raleigh "so I don't get 'em wrong"
101. Man on street corner in New York City's Chinatown "well we all just wanna be"
102. Man in front of Big Acorn in Raleigh "big rock stars"
103. Eight Daisy Duke wannabes in front of a General Lee-inspired RV at City Market in Raleigh "and live in hill-top houses"
104. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. again "driving fifteen cars"
105. The Naked Cowboy in Times Square "the girls come easy and the (drugs) come cheap"
106. Woman at the beach "we'll all stay skinny"
107. Boy in Times Square "'cause we just won't eat"
108. Cindy Taylor again "and we'll hang out in the coolest bars"
109. Woman in front of Buckingham Fountain "in the VIP"
110. Grant Hill again "with the movie stars"
111. Jayson Woolley in Union Square "every good gold digger's"
112. Ted Nugent again "gonna wind up there"
113. Holly Madison again "every Playboy"
114. Bridget Marquardt in a pink bed "bunny with her bleach"
115. Kendra Wilkinson again "blond hair, and we'll"
116. Paul Nealon in front of Tower Bridge "hide out in the private rooms"
117. Nelly Furtado again "with the latest dictionary of today's"
118. Two women in front of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge "who's who/they'll get you anything"
119. Kid Rock again "with that evil smile/everybody's"
120. Ted Nugent again "got a (drug dealer) on speed dial, well"
121. John Rich again "hey"
122. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. again "hey"
123. Worker in front of Marina City "I wanna be a rock star"
124. Wayne Gretzky again, splashing a pool with a hockey stick
125. Kendra Wilkinson again
126. Nelly Furtado again "hey"
127. Gene Simmons again "hey"
128. Nickelback fans at Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts concert singing "I wanna be a rockstar" / pan to Chad Kroeger / pan to Mike Kroeger and Ryan Peake

Charts

Chart	Peak position
Canadian BDS Airplay Chart	13
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	6
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	6
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Airplay	10
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	37
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	4
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40	6
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs	3
U.S. Billboard Hot Ringtones	3
ARC Weekly Top 40	2
Austrian Top 75	5
Brazilian Hot 100	52[6]
Dutch Top 40	25
German Singles Top 100	23
Poland Singles Chart	39
Swiss Singles Top 100	38
UK Singles Chart	15
United World Chart	15
VSpot Top 20 Countdown	1

• "Rockstar" has sold 1,806,254 downloads in the U.S. as of December 12, 2007.
• "Rockstar" entered the UK singles chart on October 21, 2007.
• It re-entered the U.S. Singles Chart at number forty-seven on July 7, 2007.^[7]

Pop Culture References

The song makes several references to popular culture. For example, the song's narrator wants a house on MTV Cribs (Chad Kroeger, the band's frontman, actually did appear on an episode of the show). Several Playboy references are made. The song also alludes to anorexia in the line, "We'll all stay skinny, 'cause we just won't eat." This song also makes fun of drug dealing in the lines " and the drugs come cheap" and " Everybody's got a drug dealer on speed dial" these lines are censored on VH1. Many people believe these lyrics promote drug dealing while others contend that they are making fun of it. The song also refers to Hollywood's Walk of Fame, saying that a spot between James Dean and Cher (line sung (rather lip-synched) by Gene Simmons who once dated Cher) (who, interestingly, does not have her own star but does share one with her late ex-husband, Sonny Bono) would be "fine for [him]." (Nickelback is on the Canadian Walk of Fame^[8])The song also references Chad wanting "a new tour bus full of old guitars" which the band's guitarist owns.

Parodies

In early September 2007, James at War released a parody of Nickelback's Rockstar, entitled Popstar. An immediate success on sites such as YouTube and Metacafe, Popstar went on to be played on early morning radio shows across the US, drawing attention to the follies of modern popstars such as Britney Spears, Ashlee Simpson, and the like.

Citations

1. ^ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21
2. ^ http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858557857
3. ^ Video Static: Music Video News: June 3, 2007 - June 9, 2007
4. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYGe8PmUycE
5. ^ http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070808090347AAdAai7
6. ^ Brazilian Hot 100 Songs & Tracks. Hot100Brasil. Retrieved on October 8 2007.
7. ^ http://acharts.us/billboard_hot_100/2007/27 Acharts.us
8. ^ http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/inductee.cfm?aid=8

External links

• Nickelback - Rockstar Music Video at Roadrunner Records
• Rockstar Lyrics

•  • e Nickelback
Chad Kroeger • Ryan Peake • Mike Kroeger • Daniel Adair Brandon Kroeger • Ryan Vikedal • Mitch Guindon
Studio albums	Curb • The State • Silver Side Up • The Long Road • All the Right Reasons
EPs	Hesher
Singles	"Fly" • "Leader of Men" • "Old Enough" • "Breathe" • "Worthy to Say" • "How You Remind Me" • "Too Bad" • "Never Again" • "Someday" • "Figured You Out" • "Feelin' Way Too Damn Good" • "Because of You" • "See You at the Show" • "Photograph" • "Animals" • "Far Away" • "Savin' Me" • "Rockstar" • "If Everyone Cared" • "Side of a Bullet"
Other songs	"Follow You Home" • "Next Contestant" • "Throw Yourself Away" • "Where Do I Hide"
Videos	Live at Home • The Videos • Road to Success • Photo Album
Related	Discography • Videography • "Hero" • "Into the Night" • Hanna, Alberta • Canadian rock • Post-grunge • Theory of a Deadman • 3 Doors Down • Thornley