Nickelback's Mike Kroeger sees things in black and white: if you don't like it, don't do it. And that goes for everything from the band's music to touring the world.

Kroeger and the band he started almost 20 years ago with brother, and front man, Chad and guitarist Ryan Peake - later joined by drummer Daniel Adair - will play their first ever headline show in New Zealand at Auckland's Vector Arena on Friday.

It's part of a world tour taking in places like Russia and Belarus to top off another frantic year.

"The year's been busy, and that's a blessing and not a complaint. There are a lot of people who do what we do and would consider all this work something really hard and something to complain about, but we're not really like that.

"I think you'll get plenty of time off when your career is over. Don't worry about it, right now just have fun with it and enjoy it while it lasts, because nothing lasts forever, especially in this job."

Right now, the Canadian band is riding an interesting wave of success that has firmly divided music lovers.  

On one hand, they have seven albums under their belt and sold close to 25 million worldwide. They have won American Music Awards, Billboard Awards and been nominated for six Grammys.  

On the other, they were voted the world's biggest musical turn-off, there was a petition to stop them performing at a Thanksgiving Day football game and if you search Twitter the comments aren't pretty.

None of that worries Kroeger though. He said criticism is only hard if you acknowledge it.

"We don't defend ourselves, we don't care. But our fans take it upon themselves to, which is very endearing and sweet...they defend it and they come to the rock shows. It's just for us to realise that there are people out there that dig it and we'll keep doing it until they stop asking for more.

"And if anybody really doesn't like it, it's not compulsory - you don't have to do this to yourself. Hating is apparently really fun. I don't get it, but it looks like it's quite a cottage industry out there."

Despite the negative reactions, there is nothing Kroeger would prefer to be doing. This, he said, is the rock and roll dream and if people don't like it, they might want to reconsider things.

"I wouldn't be going to New Zealand if I wasn't doing this because I probably wouldn't be able to afford it. The music life has taken us places and shown us things that we would never ever have experienced. And it's still doing it now.

"A lot of people bitch and moan about how hard it is; 'oh I'm so tired'. F***.  I've dug holes for a living, and this is nothing like that on a bad day. Nothing. It's not working in a coal mine. Those people have a right to bitch about their jobs because it's hard. This isn't hard."

NICKELBACK

WHEN: November 30

WHERE: Vector Arena, Auckland

- © Fairfax NZ News