Leader of Men was released in March 2000 as lead single from their album, The State. It served to be Nickelback breakthrough hit single. The music video was the band playing in the recording room while outside a riot was taking place. The band's first successful single, the song reached the US rock charts, peaking at number eight on Mainstream Rock Tracks and number 21 on Modern Rock Tracks. It remained in the top ten of the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for 10 weeks straight.