Nickelback “Photograph” released

Photograph Nickelback

Writer(s): Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Daniel Adair (see lyrics here) Released: August 8, 2005 First Charted: August 20, 2005 Peak: 2 BB, 11 DG, 3 RR, 16 AC, 118 A40, 17 AR, 3 MR, 18 UK, 3 CN, 3 AU, 14 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.6 UK, 2.69 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.50 radio, 360.80 video, 377.58 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Poor Nickelback. They’ve become the punching bag of rock and roll in the 21st century. Sure, they aren’t exactly the equivalent of Beethoven, but it’s hard to grasp how a band who’ve sold more than 40 million albums have been ridiculed like they were a flash-in-the-pan one-hit wonder. The band was formed in 1995 by the Kroeger brothers Chad (vocals, guitar) and Mike (bass) with their cousin Brandon (drums) and Ryan Peake (rhythm guitar). The band cycled through a few drummers before Daniel Adair landed the job in 2005. The group landed a #1 hit with “How You Remind Me” from their third album, 2001’s Silver Side Up. Their next album, 2003’s The Long Road, gaven them another top-10 hit. Their commercial peak, however, came in 2005. The band exploded in 2005 with their fifth album, All the Right Reasons. it sold 18 million copies worldwide and gave the band three more top-10 hits with “Photograph,” “Far Away,” and “Rockstar.” The song “is about reviewing the memories - missed and forgotten - from the band's childhood in Hanna, Alberta. The lyrics are a chronicle of real events and personal landmarks lead singer Chad Kroeger recalled as he wrote it.” SF He said, “It’s just nostalgia, growing up in a small town, and you can’t go back to your childhood. Saying goodbye to friends that you’ve drifted away from, where you grew up, where you went to school, who you hung out with and the dumb stuff you used to do as a kid, the first love – all of those things. Everyone has one or two of those memories that they are fond of, so this song is really just the bridge for all that.” WK The video was shot in Hanna, Alberta, with the band revisiting old stomping grounds. The photograph which Chad holds up in the video was the inspiration for the song. The picture is of him and Joey Moi, the band’s producer, at a New Year’s Eve party. In the song he says, “What the hell’s on Joey’s head?” It’s a chiller for champagne. SF The shot of Chad holding up the photo has become a meme with people substituting other images in the photograph. Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/27/2026.

Green Day “American Idiot” released

American Idiot Green Day

Writer(s): Billie Joe Armstrong (see lyrics here) Released: August 6, 2004 First Charted: August 21, 2004 Peak: 61 BB, 5 AR, 16 MR, 3 UK, 14 CN, 7 AU, 10 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 1.8 UK, 3.13 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.1 radio, 370.21 video, 1315.70 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The punk-rock group Green Day formed in 1987 in California. The trio of singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool (since 1990) catapulted into the mainstream in 1994 with Dookie, their major-label debut. The album sold 20 million copies with multiple songs that became mainstays on alternative-rock radio. They established a party-and-have-fun vibe with their “snotty and adolescent” TC which made their seventh album, American Idiot, a shock to their listeners. Not only did they venture into protest territory but delivered a full-fledged rock opera, taking a strong stance against President Bush and the war in Iraq. One must “go back two decades to the Clash to see this kind of clear political stance from a band.” TC The title cut, released as the first single, was one of the most explicitly political songs on the album, arguing that “mass media has orchestrated paranoia and idiocy among the public.” WK While there was some concern that listeners might feel insulted by the song, Mike Dirnt saw the song as “finger-pointing song of anger” that was “a voice for the disenfranchised.” WK Armstrong was inspired to write the song after hearing Lynyrd Skynrd’s “That’s How I Like It” in which they boast about being rednecks and Armstrong thought, “Oh my God, why would you be proud of something like that?” SF Surprisingly, “American Idiot” was the band’s first Billboard Hot 100 hit. Although they’d amassed plenty of hits in the ‘90s, they were based on airplay and not actual single releases. The song picked up fou Grammy nominations for Record of the Year, Best Rock Song, Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and Best Music Video. Resources: TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 543. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/6/2025; last updated 1/26/2026.

 

Kenny Wayne Shepherd “Blue on Black” charted

Blue on Black Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Writer(s): Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Mark Selby, Tia Sillers (see lyrics here) Released: April 7, 1998 First Charted: January 24, 1998 Peak: 78 US, 8 AA, 16 AR, 12 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 52.1 video, 48.96 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: In the wake of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s death in 1990, several white blues artists emerged during the nineties as possible heirs to his throne. The most successful of these was Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Born in 1977 in Shreveport, Louisiana, he began seriously playing guitar at age 7 after meeting Vaughan. Shepherd released his first album, Ledbetter Heights, in 1995 when he was 18 years old. That album gave him a top-10 mainstream rock hit with “Déjà Voodoo,” but he found even greater success with 1997’s Trouble Is, an album which produced four top-10 hits on the mainstream rock chart. The most successful of these – and the biggest hit of Shepherd’s career – was “Blue on Black.” The song not only reached #1, but was ranked as Billboard’s top rock track of 1998. GN It was also Shepherd’s only chart hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #78. Shepherd wrote the song with the husband-and-wife team of Mark Selby and Tia Sillers. Shepherd and Selby had the music down and then Sillers (who also co-wrote Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance”) came up with the idea for the lyrics. She noticed Shepherd’s shirt, which was blue on black. As he said, “if you mix those two colors together, black consumes the blue.” WK It became a “powerful metaphor for a one-sided or broken relationship.” SF Billboard magazine described the song as a “widely appealing meld of brooding southern rock, searing blues guitar and alt-country touches.” WK The heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch recorded the song for their 2018 album And Justice for None. A single was released which featured Shepherd as well as Queen guitarist Brian May and country singer Brantley Gilbert. It also reached #1 on the mainstream rock chart and was a #66 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Proceeds were given to the Gary Sinise Foundation, which aids veterans and first responders. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Kenny Wayne Shepherd SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 12/23/2022.

The Cranberries “Zombie” released

Zombie The Cranberries

Writer(s): Dolores O'Riordan (see lyrics here) Released: September 19, 1994 First Charted: October 1, 1994 Peak: 22 BA, 25 GR, 20 RR, 32 AR, 16 MR, 14 UK, 19 CN, 18 AU, 10 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 1.8 UK, 3.42 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2227.55 video, 1376.10 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Cranberries released their debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?, in 1993. It sold eight million copies worldwide on the strength of hit songs “Dreams” and “Linger.” A year later, the group was back with their second album, No Need to Argue. It was even more successful, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard album chart and selling 17 million copies worldwide. The album was supported by four singles, the first of which was “Zombie.” It was a #1 hit on the Billboard modern rock chart and reached #3 in the band’s native Ireland. The song was written by Dolores O’Riordan, the lead singer, about the Northern Ireland conflict that lasted from the late 1960s through 1998 during which the paramilitary organization known as the IRA (Irish Republican Army) led an effot to overthrow British rule in Northern Ireland. Author Dave Thompson said, “The struggle that the English press euphemistically called the Irish Troubles was nearing its end when this was released, after a quarter century of violence.” DT In 1993, there were two bombings in Warrington, England. The second killed 56 people, including two children. After O’Riordan visited the town, she decided to write a song about it. She explained, “We were on a tour bus and I was near the location where it happened, so it really struck me hard – I was quite young, but I remember being devastated about the innocent children being pulled into that kind of thing.” SW The band’s label, Island, was leary about releasing such a politically-charged single WK but the subject matter “didn’t dent the power of the song.” DT It went to #1 in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, and Iceland. WK James Linderman told Songwriting magazine “This is a song that completely exemplifies the tricky balancing act of caring very deeply about people, but at the same time, not caring one bit about what they think of your art and so being able to express yourself honestly.” SW Resources: SW SongwritingMagazine.co.uk (9/19/2019). “How I wrote ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan” by Aaron Slater DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 151. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/18/2025.

Def Leppard “Photograph” charted

Photograph Def Leppard

Writer(s): Joe Elliott, Pete Willis, Rick Savage, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Steve Clark (see lyrics here) Released: February 3, 1983 First Charted: February 5, 1983 Peak: 12 US, 13 CB, 23 GR, 16 RR, 16 AR, 66 UK, 32 CN, 4 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 22.61 video, 67.14 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Def Leppard formed in Sheffield, England, in 1976. Their first two albums generated three entries on the UK charts, none reaching higher than #45. 1983’s Pyromania, however, was a huge success in the United States, reaching #2 on the album chart and selling more than ten million copies. The album generated three top-40 hits and four top-10 hits on the album rock chart. Two songs, “Photograph” and “Rock of Ages,” went all the way to #1 on the latter chart. “Photograph” was the lead single from the album and the band’s first chart entry in the United States, going all the way to #12. It had “all the makings of a crossover hit,” SF owing a debt to producer Mutt Lange, who’d previously worked on the band’s High N’ Dry album as well as the blockbuster albums Back in Black by AC/DC and Foreigner 4 by Foreigner. It featured his trademark sound of big, polished guitars alongside layered vocals. “Nothing about ‘Photograph’ is second rate – this was the first time Def Leppard had finally utilized all their talent in creating a truly inescapable, infectious rock anthem.” AMG “The Marilyn Monroe-influenced lyrics are sleazy, and the vocals are filled with Joe Elliot's raw screeches.” AMG “This was the song that truly began and defined the pop-metal craze that would dominate the rock scene for the entire decade.” AMG The video – which featured a Marilyn Monroe lookalike – became a phenom on MTV, wrangling its way to the all-time champion in the network’s Friday Night Video Fights, which pitted two videos against each other every Friday night and then allowing viewers to vote for their favorite. While lead singer Joe Elliott suggested the song was also about Monroe, WK the song is really about a more generic experience about young lust in which the song’s protagonist is crazy about this girl, but all he has is a photograph to remind him of her. WK Resources: AMG All Music Guide song review by Bruce Weber SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 12/28/2022.