NICKELBACK TO REPUBLIC
'BACK IS BACK: Sources say that after a hotly contested derby, Nickelback's deal with Republic is done. Securing the Canadian arena-rockers (who depart Atlantic-owned Roadrunner) involved multiple trips to Maui by Republic chief Monte Lipman and team, and the pact gives Chad Kroeger and bandmates their own label. The Bryan Coleman-managed band has sold some 50 million albums worldwide and in 2008 inked a massive touring deal with Live Nation; Nickelback ranks as the 11th top-selling band of the 2000s and trail only the Beatles as the top-selling foreign band. The band, whose major hits include “How You Remind Me” (#1), “Photograph” (#2), “Rockstar” and “Someday,” signed with Roadrunner in 1999; the label released a Best Of set last fall. (6/2a)
