What's cool is he has dreadlocks. That makes piano OK in rock, if the piano player looks cool.

We thought it would do OK, but we weren't sure. We didn't have a crystal ball, and we didn't say, 'Oh yeah, it's a smash.' We liked the song but didn't know if it would be the best to debut the album with. But there is something special about the song. People caught onto it.

We're a controversial band, so big that everyone wants to hate us. We get a lot of bad press. I don't listen to it. We take it with a grain of salt and keep moving on.

We'll be really tight by the time we get down there to you guys. Everyone will have a really good time. It's trite to say thanks to the fans, but we really mean it. We look forward to rocking everyone's socks off.

Chad brings the bulk of the ideas to the table, and we all polish and rework the ideas he comes up with. He's such an accomplished songwriter. He wrote a song for ('American Idol' runner-up) Bo Bice, Enrique Iglesias - he's got that ear to be a musical chameleon and get into the zone of an artist. And he can't help but write a song you can hum along to. And that voice, you know it when you hear it.

Nickelback offered me a full-membership position. That's a great thing.