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Incredibly Successful Bands That Really Piss People Off

Left to right: Chris Martin of Coldplay, Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, and Scott Stapp of Creed.(Getty Images | Bauer Griffin | Wikipedia)

When the Detroit Lions asked Nickelback to perform during halftime at their Thanksgiving day football game, one fan was left so enraged he created an online petition aimed at forcing the team to retract their invitation. Though he managed to collect more than 50,000 signatures, the show went on as planned, probably because millions of people actually do like the band.

No matter how many times an angry New Yorker (probably wearing sweatpants) yells about them on Twitter, Nickelback is still one of the world's most profitable rock bands. Which is exactly what places the group in such fascinating company. Sure, Nickelback may have the most ~~sadistic~~ vocal critics. But they're not the only incredibly successful band to drive music fans up the wall.

Nickelback

In case you were skeptical of just how successful this band has been, here's some useless trivia that should agitate your pretentious music friends. In the 2000s, only one foreign act sold more music in the US than The Beatles. Sadly, it wasn't Italian group Eiffel 65, despite the fact that "Blue (Da Be Dee)" blasted at every Bar Mitzvah, bowling alley, and gay bar in the country. No, no, it was Nickelback.

Believe it or not, the band has sold over 50 million albums worldwide, which is more than Green Day and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. But they've been the butt end of jokes for years. Here's the admittedly hilarious (and passionate) plea from the author of the aforementioned online petition.
“This game is nationally televised, do we really want the rest of the US to associate Detroit with Nickelback? Detroit is home to so many great musicians and they chose Nickelback?!?!?! Does anyone even like Nickelback? Is this some sort of ploy to get people to leave their seats during halftime to spend money on alcoholic beverages and concessions? This is completely unfair to those of us who purchased tickets to the game. At least the people watching at home can mute their TVs. The Lions ought to think about their fans before choosing such an awful band to play at halftime.”
Creed

Though Creed has sold slightly fewer records than Nickelback, they were still the 9th best-selling artist of the 2000s. They've also won a Grammy, and more importantly, hold the world record for the most amount of cameras used at a live music event (239). Despite all these sure-tell signs of awesomeness, critics never warmed to the band.

Yahoo! Music described the group as an "unremarkable, plodding muscle-bound reworking of Pearl Jam, with all of that older band's warmth and psychological intensity replaced by chest-beating bravado and blandly messianic lyrics." Of course, it wasn't just the critics who hated on Creed. A quick Google search turns up plenty of angst directed their way, including an eloquent list of the top 100 Reasons Why Creed Sucks. Better yet: As the Daily Show clip above proves, Creed even managed to piss off their own fans.

Coldplay

In June 2005, Chris Martin and his jolly gang of British bandmates released X&Y, an album that quickly became the best-selling LP of the year. That same month, the New York Times ran an article titled "The Case Against Coldplay," in which Jon Pareles described the group as the "most insufferable band of the decade."

And yet this "insufferable band" has won seven Grammys, and sold more than 50 million records worldwide. Their latest effort, Mylo Xyloto, easily outsold every other rock record of 2011. Do you have any idea what a Mylo Xyloto is? Of course you don't. And neither do we. But these guys are so successful they can speak in jibberish and still make millions.

So why do people hate these bands so much? Time magazine's Claire Suddath knows she can't stand Coldplay. Only, she can barely remember why. And maybe that explains the perplexing dichotomy that exists between those who scoop up Creed records like candy, and those who scream and yell from the sidelines.

Yes, the actual lyrics to "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall" are nauseating, but does the 13-year-old girl who bought the album with her dad's money care? No. And maybe we shouldn't either. If nothing else, at least she learned how to form a metaphor.

(Bauer Griffin | Getty Images)