Biography: Who "invented" them? Who influenced them?

Throughout the course of Nickelback's history, some things have changed, but at least one thing has remained the same. No matter who it was or what they were going through, the band has been made up of four guys. Brought together in 1996, the original four were two brothers, their cousin, and one of their friends. Chad Kroeger became the vocalist for the band and his brother, Mike, played bass. Their cousin Brandon was their drummer and the friend of theirs, Ryan Peake, also sang and played guitar for the band. Very shortly after the band formed the drummer, Brandon, left the group because he wanted to pursue things other than music. Mitch Guidon took over, but only for a short period of time. In 1998, Nickelback's drummer had changed for the second time. Mitch Guindon left the group, and a long time friend of the Kroeger brothers, Ryan Vikedal, replaced him. In 2005, the drummer was replaced yet again. The group claimed that he no longer cared about the music, while the three of them were still very dedicated. There were also problems with him receiving money that he was not supposed to. When Ryan Vikedal finally left the group, the former drummer of 3 Doors Down, Daniel Adair, took his spot. Today Daniel is still a member of the band, along with the original three... Chad, Mike, and Ryan. Hopefully he is not part of the curse, and can stay with the band for the rest of their career. The band has been influenced by bands such as Creed, 3 Doors Down, and Saliva, but they still have a sound that is all their own. According to an interview with lead singer Chad Kroeger, ZZ Top also influenced them. He stated that him and his fellow band memebers liked them, but they had no idea ZZ Top liked them. All of a sudden one day, the classic rock trio came up to them told them that they should all do something together because they really liked Nickelback's sound. The guys are also influenced by major producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange who has helped them with a lot of their work (Kroeger, Chad).