Photo courtesy of Digital Strips

Last week, Newswire Sports Editor Luke Feliciano bravely published a piece where he publicly announced his support for Nickleback. I would like to say #metoo.

I am also a part of this “Silent Majority” of Nickleback fans who have experienced years upon years of harassment for my taste in music. I have been victimized unfairly by this culture that stands so firmly against Nickleback, a band that speaks to the hearts and souls of so many people around this world.

Luke’s courageous admission of his passion for this group gave me the deep encouragement that I needed to say something myself. I want to join Luke, to stand in solidarity with him and all other Nickleback fans across the nation who feel that they, too, have been persecuted for something that they can’t change about themselves.

As Luke said in his piece, Nickleback is a group with impressive stats. One of their songs is played on a radio station every 20 minutes. One of the most famous vines utilizes their hit song, “Photograph.” One of their other many hit songs, “How You Remind Me,” has 355 million views on YouTube. That’s only 493 million views fewer than Iggy Azalea’s hit, “Fancy” — which may sound like people like “Fancy” more than “How You Remind Me,” but really, when was the last time anyone talked about Iggy Azalea? Nickleback has been around since the mid-1990s and has been relevant ever since. Iggy Azalea was only relevant for like two months, max.

I don’t understand the hate that Nickleback receives. I honestly don’t. The band, led by lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, is better than almost any musician around today. Kendrick Lamar has 11 Grammys. Kanye West has 21. The Beatles have 25.

Nickleback has none. They have five Grammy nominations but no actual wins. There is no logical reason that I can think of as to why they shouldn’t have won.

I would like to call upon my fellow Nickleback fans to stand with me. We need to have a public demonstration where we walk out in support of our favorite band that has not received the recognition that they deserve from both the Academy and the general public.

We need to organize a march for this band so that we can get justice, both for the band and for ourselves. We deserve to not receive hate from our friends, embarrassment for our love. We deserve to be respected, just like everyone else is because they love Kendrick Lamar or something.

Kevin Thomas is a sophomore English and philosophy double major and the World News Editor for the Newswire from St. Louis.