Some musicians are perennial targets. The go-to whipping boys of the people and the press alike, they're an easy punchline to a joke no one's quite finished writing yet but that probably contains some variation on the theme "you're shit, aren't you". More often than not, these acts carry on regardless; they brush off their shoulders at every well-aimed thinkpiece or trash-hurling Twitter joke (it helps to be selling out arenas while the hate splatters on your back).

Stanning one of these prime targets isn't easy. I should know – as a longtime Nickelback fan-stroke-apologist, I've been accused of idiocy, ignorance and, worse, irony for simply enjoying a big, beer-spilling chorus or ten. Like any long-term relationship, you take on their troubles. When those troubles involve thousands upon thousands of people hurling the proverbial mud, though, it can get a bit wearisome. But there's also something undeniably funny about sticking it out anyway and being someone who will fight for, like, Daniel Bedingfield or the Chainsmokers. With that in mind, I sought out some fellow fans of music's big hate figures, to figure out what makes them plant their flag on such scorched ground.

Nickelback – Scott, 42, Ontario

I've been a die-hard fan since they first came out. Their music was different to what it is now – it's got bigger and bigger. It feels like with each album they put out, there was just hit after hit after hit. Since the 70s, no band has got the notoriety worldwide like Nickelback has. The Long Road was the album that sealed it for me. "Someday", was a song that just clicked with me.

I've seen them live so many times, and I've met them several times too. On my birthday in 2006 a person who worked for a radio station had got me a meet-and-greet. I did these big drawings of Nickelback, and they signed them – they remembered me!! Chad wrote 'Happy Birthday, Chad Kroeger', and then signed my arm. I got his signature tattooed the next day.

I just think the critics are jealous. Back in the day, Ryan Adams and Canadian bands could never get these kind of album sales over in Australia, or Germany, or Japan. Nickelback has broken those boundaries. I saw Avril Lavigne sticking up for them on Twitter – she'd had enough of everybody saying that Nickelback is bad or whatever, and she had a point: look at all the album sales; look at how many people go to their concerts. They're wanted. People can say, 'Oh, they suck, blah blah blah', but if you don't want to listen to them, that's fine! But guess what: people are going to the concerts, people want to meet them, people wanna buy their albums.

Sometimes I'll post something about them on Facebook and I'll get someone who says something not nice in return. Take my best friend: he's an Iggy Pop fan and he's like, 'Ugh Nickelback are garbage! They all sound the same!' And you know what? That's your loss, man!

U2 – Jordan, 23, Michigan

I got into U2 when I was about 13. I was getting curious about music, and turned to diving into my parents' CD collection. War sort of found me, in that it was very immediate and it took me to places that I'd never really experienced before. Back then I was looking for anything that had guitars - I wanted it loud! The Joshua Tree didn't really speak to me in that way, it really bored me, but the immediacy of War - turning it on and you get "Sunday Bloody Sunday" right away - was more of a punk aspect. It's an angrier album, and songs like "New Year's Day", they're ripping through them. The anger in Bono's voice grabbed me. I was super impressionistic at that point, and that album sort of met me there.