What The Hell Is On Joeys Head

2005Catchphrase / song lyric memeclassic

Also known as: Joey's Head · Look at This Photograph

What the Hell Is on Joey's Head is a 2005 Nickelback song lyric meme featuring producer Joey Moi wearing a champagne chiller, from the hit single "Photograph," spawning countless internet jokes and remixes.

"What the Hell Is on Joey's Head?" is a lyric from Nickelback's 2005 hit single "Photograph" that became one of the song's most memorable and meme-worthy lines. The question refers to a champagne chiller balanced on the head of Joey Moi, the band's producer and close friend of frontman Chad Kroeger, in a real photograph taken during a drunken New Year's Eve party. The line turned into a running internet joke and played a key role in making "Photograph" one of the most memed songs of the 2000s.

music memescatchphrase memeslate 2000s memesviral photo memes

Overview

The line appears in the opening verse of "Photograph," where Kroeger sings: "Look at this photograph / Every time I do it makes me laugh / How did our eyes get so red? / And what the hell is on Joey's head?" In the music video, Kroeger walks through his hometown of Hanna, Alberta, holding up an actual photograph of himself and Joey Moi. The object on Moi's head looks bizarre and unidentifiable in the small photo, which sparked years of speculation from fans. The mystery of Joey's headgear became a go-to joke for people discussing the song online, and eventually fed into the broader "Look at this photograph" exploitable meme format.

"Photograph" was released on September 20, 2005, as the lead single from Nickelback's fifth studio album, *All the Right Reasons*2. The song is autobiographical, with Kroeger singing about growing up in Hanna, Alberta, drifting apart from old friends, and looking back at memories from his youth1.

Kroeger wrote the lyrics in a stream-of-consciousness style. The first line he came up with was "Look at this photograph," and he kept riffing from there until the question about Joey's head came out naturally1. The photograph referenced in the song and held up in the music video is a real snapshot of Kroeger and Joey Moi, taken at a New Year's Eve party. The object on Moi's head is a large, polished champagne chiller turned upside down. According to Kroeger, "It literally looks like he has the Stanley Cup on his head, and it was just a big, very well-polished champagne chiller, and we were just messed one New Year's Eve, out of our minds, and someone took that picture"1.

There's a hidden detail in the photo, too. A third person, Rob Mackie, was originally standing next to Kroeger but was cropped out before the picture was passed around. His hand is still visible in the shot, holding the chiller on Moi's head1.

Origin & Background

Platform
Nickelback's "Photograph" music video (source), Yahoo Answers / internet forums (viral spread)
Key People
Chad Kroeger, Joey Moi
Date
2005

"Photograph" was released on September 20, 2005, as the lead single from Nickelback's fifth studio album, *All the Right Reasons*. The song is autobiographical, with Kroeger singing about growing up in Hanna, Alberta, drifting apart from old friends, and looking back at memories from his youth.

Kroeger wrote the lyrics in a stream-of-consciousness style. The first line he came up with was "Look at this photograph," and he kept riffing from there until the question about Joey's head came out naturally. The photograph referenced in the song and held up in the music video is a real snapshot of Kroeger and Joey Moi, taken at a New Year's Eve party. The object on Moi's head is a large, polished champagne chiller turned upside down. According to Kroeger, "It literally looks like he has the Stanley Cup on his head, and it was just a big, very well-polished champagne chiller, and we were just messed one New Year's Eve, out of our minds, and someone took that picture".

There's a hidden detail in the photo, too. A third person, Rob Mackie, was originally standing next to Kroeger but was cropped out before the picture was passed around. His hand is still visible in the shot, holding the chiller on Moi's head.

How It Spread

Fan curiosity about Joey's headgear started early. On July 30, 2008, an anonymous user on Yahoo Answers posted the question: "In the video for Photograph by Nickelback what really is on Joey's head in the picture at the beginning?" with the update "Trophy or pirate hat??? idk." Another user explained that it was a champagne chiller that ended up on his head during a party, noting that Kroeger had addressed it in interviews.

The lyric became one of the most discussed aspects of "Photograph," eventually working as a shorthand for the entire song. By the mid-2010s, the music video's opening shot of Kroeger holding a picture frame had been turned into an exploitable image macro, with users swapping out the photo for other images. The "Look at this photograph" format and "What the hell is on Joey's head?" worked together to keep the song lodged in internet culture far longer than most mid-2000s rock singles.

On June 13, 2017, CBC Radio published a detailed interview with Kroeger where he broke down the story behind the song line by line. The interview confirmed every detail: Joey Moi's identity, the champagne chiller, the cropped-out Rob Mackie, and the drunken New Year's Eve context. This gave fans a definitive answer to a question that had floated around the internet for over a decade.

On May 19, 2018, YouTuber Reed Windle posted a comedy sketch centered on a character obsessing over what was on Joey's head, treating the mystery like a high-stakes investigation.

In October 2019, then-President Donald Trump posted a video to Twitter using the "Look at this photograph" format. The video replaced the original photo with an image of Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Devon Archer on a golf course, repurposing the lyric "What the hell is on Joey's head?" as a dig at the elder Biden's appearance. The video was taken down after a copyright claim from Nickelback's label, but the incident drove a spike in streaming and downloads of the original song.

In December 2020, Nickelback themselves leaned into the joke by creating a parody version of "Photograph" for a Google Photos advertisement. The reworked lyrics poked fun at Kroeger's own photographic history, including his well-known hair.

How to Use This Meme

The "What the hell is on Joey's head?" line typically works as a punchline or callback when someone spots an unidentifiable object in a photo. Common uses include:

- Direct reference: Quoting the lyric when encountering a confusing or funny photograph, especially one where someone is wearing something strange on their head. - Exploitable format: Part of the broader "Look at this photograph" template, where users edit the image Kroeger holds in the music video. The Joey's head line adds an extra layer to the joke. - Standalone absurdity: Using the question out of context to express confusion about any unexplained visual element.

The joke works best when the mystery is played straight, treating a mundane or obvious object like it's an unsolvable riddle.

Cultural Impact

The lyric's persistence turned a single throwaway line in a rock song into an enduring piece of internet culture. Nickelback's *All the Right Reasons* achieved diamond certification in the U.S. with over 10 million units sold, making the band one of only four Canadian acts to reach that milestone alongside Céline Dion, Shania Twain, and Alanis Morissette. "Photograph" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Mainstream Rock Tracks and Pop 100 charts.

The song's meme status played a complicated role in Nickelback's public image. For years, "Look at this photograph" and the Joey's head question were used to mock the band. But as attitudes shifted in the late 2010s toward more sincere appreciation, the memes stuck around in a less hostile way. Trump's use of the format in 2019 showed how the meme had moved well beyond music fandom into political messaging, even if it was quickly removed over copyright.

Joey Moi himself went on to become a major producer and songwriter, working not just with Nickelback but with other rock and country acts. The champagne chiller moment is a small but famous footnote in his career.

Fun Facts

The photo was taken at a New Year's Eve party where both Kroeger and Moi were "out of their minds" drunk.

Rob Mackie's hand is still visible in the famous photo, holding the chiller on Moi's head, despite his body being cropped out.

Kroeger also admitted in the same song that he broke into his high school to steal money from the office safe. He says it was actually 11 times, but "half a dozen" fit the lyrics better.

When guitarist Ryan Peake heard Kroeger discussing the photo in an interview, he spontaneously started singing "Cold-blooded" in falsetto, an apparent inside joke from the night the photo was taken.

The 2019 Trump tweet featuring the "Photograph" video caused a measurable increase in the song's streaming numbers after being removed for copyright infringement.

Frequently Asked Questions

What The Hell Is On Joeys Head

2005Catchphrase / song lyric memeclassic

Also known as: Joey's Head · Look at This Photograph

What the Hell Is on Joey's Head is a 2005 Nickelback song lyric meme featuring producer Joey Moi wearing a champagne chiller, from the hit single "Photograph," spawning countless internet jokes and remixes.

"What the Hell Is on Joey's Head?" is a lyric from Nickelback's 2005 hit single "Photograph" that became one of the song's most memorable and meme-worthy lines. The question refers to a champagne chiller balanced on the head of Joey Moi, the band's producer and close friend of frontman Chad Kroeger, in a real photograph taken during a drunken New Year's Eve party. The line turned into a running internet joke and played a key role in making "Photograph" one of the most memed songs of the 2000s.

music memes catchphrase memes late 2000s memes viral photo memes

Overview

The line appears in the opening verse of "Photograph," where Kroeger sings: "Look at this photograph / Every time I do it makes me laugh / How did our eyes get so red? / And what the hell is on Joey's head?" In the music video, Kroeger walks through his hometown of Hanna, Alberta, holding up an actual photograph of himself and Joey Moi. The object on Moi's head looks bizarre and unidentifiable in the small photo, which sparked years of speculation from fans. The mystery of Joey's headgear became a go-to joke for people discussing the song online, and eventually fed into the broader "Look at this photograph" exploitable meme format.

"Photograph" was released on September 20, 2005, as the lead single from Nickelback's fifth studio album, *All the Right Reasons*. The song is autobiographical, with Kroeger singing about growing up in Hanna, Alberta, drifting apart from old friends, and looking back at memories from his youth.

Kroeger wrote the lyrics in a stream-of-consciousness style. The first line he came up with was "Look at this photograph," and he kept riffing from there until the question about Joey's head came out naturally. The photograph referenced in the song and held up in the music video is a real snapshot of Kroeger and Joey Moi, taken at a New Year's Eve party. The object on Moi's head is a large, polished champagne chiller turned upside down. According to Kroeger, "It literally looks like he has the Stanley Cup on his head, and it was just a big, very well-polished champagne chiller, and we were just messed one New Year's Eve, out of our minds, and someone took that picture".

There's a hidden detail in the photo, too. A third person, Rob Mackie, was originally standing next to Kroeger but was cropped out before the picture was passed around. His hand is still visible in the shot, holding the chiller on Moi's head.

Origin & Background

Platform
Nickelback's "Photograph" music video (source), Yahoo Answers / internet forums (viral spread)
Key People
Chad Kroeger, Joey Moi
Date
2005

"Photograph" was released on September 20, 2005, as the lead single from Nickelback's fifth studio album, *All the Right Reasons*. The song is autobiographical, with Kroeger singing about growing up in Hanna, Alberta, drifting apart from old friends, and looking back at memories from his youth.

Kroeger wrote the lyrics in a stream-of-consciousness style. The first line he came up with was "Look at this photograph," and he kept riffing from there until the question about Joey's head came out naturally. The photograph referenced in the song and held up in the music video is a real snapshot of Kroeger and Joey Moi, taken at a New Year's Eve party. The object on Moi's head is a large, polished champagne chiller turned upside down. According to Kroeger, "It literally looks like he has the Stanley Cup on his head, and it was just a big, very well-polished champagne chiller, and we were just messed one New Year's Eve, out of our minds, and someone took that picture".

There's a hidden detail in the photo, too. A third person, Rob Mackie, was originally standing next to Kroeger but was cropped out before the picture was passed around. His hand is still visible in the shot, holding the chiller on Moi's head.

How It Spread

Fan curiosity about Joey's headgear started early. On July 30, 2008, an anonymous user on Yahoo Answers posted the question: "In the video for Photograph by Nickelback what really is on Joey's head in the picture at the beginning?" with the update "Trophy or pirate hat??? idk." Another user explained that it was a champagne chiller that ended up on his head during a party, noting that Kroeger had addressed it in interviews.

The lyric became one of the most discussed aspects of "Photograph," eventually working as a shorthand for the entire song. By the mid-2010s, the music video's opening shot of Kroeger holding a picture frame had been turned into an exploitable image macro, with users swapping out the photo for other images. The "Look at this photograph" format and "What the hell is on Joey's head?" worked together to keep the song lodged in internet culture far longer than most mid-2000s rock singles.

On June 13, 2017, CBC Radio published a detailed interview with Kroeger where he broke down the story behind the song line by line. The interview confirmed every detail: Joey Moi's identity, the champagne chiller, the cropped-out Rob Mackie, and the drunken New Year's Eve context. This gave fans a definitive answer to a question that had floated around the internet for over a decade.

On May 19, 2018, YouTuber Reed Windle posted a comedy sketch centered on a character obsessing over what was on Joey's head, treating the mystery like a high-stakes investigation.

In October 2019, then-President Donald Trump posted a video to Twitter using the "Look at this photograph" format. The video replaced the original photo with an image of Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Devon Archer on a golf course, repurposing the lyric "What the hell is on Joey's head?" as a dig at the elder Biden's appearance. The video was taken down after a copyright claim from Nickelback's label, but the incident drove a spike in streaming and downloads of the original song.

In December 2020, Nickelback themselves leaned into the joke by creating a parody version of "Photograph" for a Google Photos advertisement. The reworked lyrics poked fun at Kroeger's own photographic history, including his well-known hair.

How to Use This Meme

The "What the hell is on Joey's head?" line typically works as a punchline or callback when someone spots an unidentifiable object in a photo. Common uses include:

- Direct reference: Quoting the lyric when encountering a confusing or funny photograph, especially one where someone is wearing something strange on their head. - Exploitable format: Part of the broader "Look at this photograph" template, where users edit the image Kroeger holds in the music video. The Joey's head line adds an extra layer to the joke. - Standalone absurdity: Using the question out of context to express confusion about any unexplained visual element.

The joke works best when the mystery is played straight, treating a mundane or obvious object like it's an unsolvable riddle.

Cultural Impact

The lyric's persistence turned a single throwaway line in a rock song into an enduring piece of internet culture. Nickelback's *All the Right Reasons* achieved diamond certification in the U.S. with over 10 million units sold, making the band one of only four Canadian acts to reach that milestone alongside Céline Dion, Shania Twain, and Alanis Morissette. "Photograph" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Mainstream Rock Tracks and Pop 100 charts.

The song's meme status played a complicated role in Nickelback's public image. For years, "Look at this photograph" and the Joey's head question were used to mock the band. But as attitudes shifted in the late 2010s toward more sincere appreciation, the memes stuck around in a less hostile way. Trump's use of the format in 2019 showed how the meme had moved well beyond music fandom into political messaging, even if it was quickly removed over copyright.

Joey Moi himself went on to become a major producer and songwriter, working not just with Nickelback but with other rock and country acts. The champagne chiller moment is a small but famous footnote in his career.

Fun Facts

The photo was taken at a New Year's Eve party where both Kroeger and Moi were "out of their minds" drunk.

Rob Mackie's hand is still visible in the famous photo, holding the chiller on Moi's head, despite his body being cropped out.

Kroeger also admitted in the same song that he broke into his high school to steal money from the office safe. He says it was actually 11 times, but "half a dozen" fit the lyrics better.

When guitarist Ryan Peake heard Kroeger discussing the photo in an interview, he spontaneously started singing "Cold-blooded" in falsetto, an apparent inside joke from the night the photo was taken.

The 2019 Trump tweet featuring the "Photograph" video caused a measurable increase in the song's streaming numbers after being removed for copyright infringement.

Frequently Asked Questions