3 Doors Down Drummer Officially Joins Nickelback

03/07/2005 3:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
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Nickelback recently announced that former 3 Doors Down drummer Daniel Adair has officially joined the band, replacing Ryan Vikedal, who departed the Canadian group in late January. Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger said he's pleased to have Adair, a fellow Canadian, in the band, especially as the members prepare to release a new studio album this summer.

He said in an official release, "We are thrilled to have Daniel in the band and excited about the creativity that is going on between the four of us in the studio. I am so happy to be in such a great band with great guys from my hometown. We've known each other for years and it just seems natural that we're playing together now."

Adair announced that he was parting ways with 3 Doors Down earlier this year after playing with the Mississippi-based band for several years. 3 Doors Down guitarist Chris Henderson said that the rest of the group didn't expect him to leave.

"It was a big surprise because, you know, we had already did so much press and the record was done,” Henderson said. “There was a whirlwind of things we had done with Daniel that all of a sudden, you know, he just came out of the blue and is like, 'I got a better gig.' Basically. 'Bye.' And it was kind of real business and sterile. And of course, you try to keep it as personal as you can, because you spend so much time with the guy, but at that point you can't anymore. You know what I mean, when it becomes about money and not about the brotherhood and the family, then it changes."

Adair, who was employed as the studio and touring drummer for 3 Doors Down, joins singer Chad Kroeger, guitarist Ryan Peake and bass player Mike Kroeger of Nickelback. They are about to hit the studio to begin recording the follow-up to 2003's The Long Road.

Greg Upchurch, former drummer for Puddle of Mudd, has since replaced Adair in 3 Doors Down, who are now out on the road behind their third studio album, Seventeen Days.

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