Formative years: 1996–1998 3 Doors Down was formed in 1996 by
Escatawpa, Mississippi, natives
Brad Arnold (lead vocals and drums), Matt Roberts (lead guitar and backing vocals), and Todd Harrell (bass guitar). While the trio were walking through the town of
Foley, Alabama, during a trip there, they noticed a building where some letters had fallen off its sign, reading "Doors Down". Since the band consisted of three people at the time, they added the number 3 to create "3 Doors Down". Arnold wrote the band's breakout hit single, "
Kryptonite", in high school during math class at age 15. The three-piece began to record demo material in 1997. The demo recording sessions took place at the Holly House Recording studio in
Biloxi, Mississippi. The band's demo songs were mixed and recorded by Clyde Holly, with the recordings being released on a self-titled CD in 1997. 1,000 copies of the demo CD were released initially, with 1,000 more copies being released two years later. The band was booked in New York to perform a showcase at the
CBGB music club. Daly told
HitQuarters: "Once they got on stage and started playing it was apparent the magic was in the music. So we moved to sign them."
Mainstream success: 1999–2004 3 Doors Down's first studio album,
The Better Life, was released on February 8, 2000. It went on to become the 11th best-selling album of the year, It was certified septuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 26, 2020, signifying over seven million units sold in the United States, thanks in large part to the international hit singles "Kryptonite", "
Loser", and "
Duck and Run". Released in April 2000, "Kryptonite" reached number three on the charts and became the band's breakout hit, A fourth single, "
Be Like That" was re-recorded for the 2001 film
American Pie 2, with alternate lyrics for the first three lines; this version is known as the "
American Pie 2 Edit". While recording the album, Brad Arnold recorded both the vocal and drum tracks. The band hired drummer Richard Liles for the tour in support of
The Better Life so that Arnold could perform at the front of the stage. Liles left the group and was later replaced by Canadian percussionist
Daniel Adair, who toured with them and did studio sessions. The band's second studio album,
Away from the Sun, was released on November 30, 2002, and peaked at number eight on the charts. The album produced the singles "
When I'm Gone", "
Here Without You", and "
The Road I'm On".
Away from the Sun went platinum within two months of release and eventually went multi-platinum; it sold four million copies worldwide, including well over three million in the US. "When I'm Gone" received Grammy nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, respectively. In 2003, the band began hosting the annual "3 Doors Down and Friends" benefit concert through the band's own charity, The Better Life Foundation. In 2006, this event was held at the Mobile Convention Center, with proceeds benefiting
Hurricane Katrina survivors. As residents of Escatawpa, the members of the band saw the effects of Katrina's devastation.
Continued success: 2005–2010 By 2005, the band had sold 12 million albums. The band's third studio album,
Seventeen Days, was released on February 8, 2005, and debuted at number 1 on the
Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum. It contains five singles, "
Let Me Go", "
Behind Those Eyes" (which achieved major chart success), "Live for Today", "
Landing in London" (on which
Bob Seger sang the second verse and provided back-up vocals), and "Here by Me". During the
Seventeen Days tour, the band appeared alongside southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, as well as headlining many shows of their own. The band later released a live DVD entitled
Away from the Sun: Live from Houston, Texas. The DVD was produced and directed by
Alex Gibney and Doug Biro. It features songs from both
The Better Life and
Away from the Sun, and even some early sketches of "It's Not Me" and "Father's Son", which were both eventually released on
Seventeen Days. Greg Upchurch, formerly of
Puddle of Mudd, replaced Daniel Adair, when Adair left to become drummer and contributing member of
Nickelback. 3 Doors Down released their
self-titled fourth album on May 20, 2008. It debuted at number 1 on the
Billboard 200, selling 154,000 copies in its first week. In 2009, 3 Doors Down, along with The Soul Children of Chicago, released the song "In the Presence of the Lord" on the compilation album
Oh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration. The band recorded a Christmas song called "
Where My Christmas Lives", which was the first Christmas song Brad Arnold had written. It was digitally released along with seven acoustic songs on December 8. Six of these acoustic tracks were from the previous self-titled album, and one was an acoustic version of "Where My Christmas Lives".
Lineup changes: 2011–2013 3 Doors Down released their fifth studio album,
Time of My Life, on July 19, 2011. The band had previously released "When You're Young" as the first single from the album on January 10, 2011. The single reached number 81 on the US
Billboard Hot 100. A second single from the album, "Every Time You Go" was released to digital outlets on May 23, 2011. The band embarked on a tour in July 2011, across the US, Europe, and the United Kingdom in support of the album. The album debuted and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200, On May 23, 2012, Matt Roberts announced he was leaving the band to focus on his health. He told fans in a statement, "3 Doors Down will always have a special place in my heart and it saddens me to take this time off. But my health has to be my first priority". Guitarist Chris Henderson announced on
Twitter that his former guitar tech Chet Roberts would replace Matt Roberts as lead guitarist. After the "Gang of Outlaws" tour finished, the band said in an interview that they were entering the studio to record three or four new songs for their first Greatest Hits album, which was released on November 19, 2012. During the tail end of the Gang of Outlaws tour, they debuted a new song "One Light" which was included on the band's
The Greatest Hits. Guitarist Chris Henderson announced on Twitter they would be back in the studio a few weeks after the tour had ended. In late 2012, the band appeared at several smaller shows including one in Huntington, New York. The band performed at Download Festival 2013 at the Zippo Encore Stage on the Friday of the three-day festival. From the end of 2012 through March 2013, 3 Doors Down went on a joint headlining tour with US rock band
Daughtry to promote Daughtry's third studio album release. The cover of "In the Air Tonight" was captured and uploaded to Daughtry's official YouTube channel. The band also played the Dubai Jazz Festival in February 2013. On April 20, 2013, bassist Todd Harrell was charged with
vehicular homicide for his actions the night before in Nashville, Tennessee. He was reportedly driving on
I-40 at high speed while under the influence of prescription medication when he caused an accident that killed 47-year-old Paul Howard Shoulders Jr. The judge in the case harshly criticized the musician's doctor in the courtroom, accusing the physician of prescribing Harrell far too many pain pills. Harrell was also charged with bringing controlled substances into a correctional detention facility. In December 2015, Harrell was sentenced to two years' imprisonment followed by six years of probation. 3 Doors Down later announced that the four scheduled shows in the U.S. for April and May had been cancelled out of respect for Shoulders and his family. The European tour with
Prime Circle and the summer tour dates with
Daughtry, which had been announced the day after the incident in Nashville, remained intact. On May 24, a week before the start on the European tour, Justin Biltonen, formerly of the Campaign 1984, was announced as the band's new bassist. The tour, starting in
Moscow, Russia began on May 31, 2013. On July 20, 2013, they played live at the
2013 National Scout Jamboree at the
Summit Bechtel Reserve.
Us and the Night and death of Matt Roberts: 2014–2024 From the end of 2013 into 2014, the band embarked on an acoustic tour entitled "Songs from the Basement" and toured around the US. In February 2014, Todd Harrell was arrested in
Mississippi once again for a
DUI. Afterward, the band released a statement that Harrell had permanently left the band, and that they would continue with Justin Biltonen as his replacement. In June, Henderson announced that the band's next album would be entitled
Us and the Night. In January 2016, the album's release date was revealed to be March 11, 2016. The band then went on tour around North America and in festivals such as Fort Rock and Carolina Rebellion. 3 Doors Down toured the UK and Europe with multiple sold-out shows.
Us and the Night peaked at number 14 on the charts. Arnold told
TMZ that he was "proud" to perform and that he thought it would be a "good experience". Fans of the band expressed positive feedback about it performing at the inauguration. 3 Doors Down's business manager, Angus Vail, explained to
Vice the reasons behind the band's decision to perform by saying: "Well, 3 Doors actually played
George W. Bush's inauguration. They are good Mississippi and Alabama boys — they come from conservative families. You know, they're really good guys, but they have very different political beliefs. Because they played both Bush's inaugurations, they've obviously been on the conservative radar." Vail continued that the band's choice to perform had a lot to do with their "God, guns, and country black-and-white sort of viewpoint" and that "they spend a lot of time going to Iraq, doing service, playing for the troops." In February 2018, during an interview with
Detroit Metro Times, rhythm guitarist Chris Henderson stated about the performance, "it wasn't a Trump thing. That's what people don't understand. It was the inauguration of a president of the United States of America." He also called it "history-making" and "It's a one-in-a-lifetime chance to do something for your country. So that's why we did it." In 2018, 3 Doors Down embarked on the Rock n' Roll Express tour with
Collective Soul and opening act
Soul Asylum. The tour had shows in 36 cities in the US. In July 2018, Arnold stated that 3 Doors Down had been writing new material; "Who knows when we'll follow that one up. But we have been writing new songs. Maybe we'll release a single or a couple of new songs. We just might not release an album for a while. We still love creating new material — there's just not a market for it. But fans still like going out and seeing us." In August 2019, Arnold stated that the band would soon begin working on a follow-up to
Us and the Night. In 2023, the band embarked on The Better Life 20th Anniversary Tour, commemorating the 2000 release of their debut album. The tour featured a full live performance of the album and included
Candlebox as the supporting act. On August 11, 2023, 3 Doors Down released a 20th-anniversary deluxe edition of their 2002 album
Away from the Sun. The expanded release features remastered audio from the original 24-bit source tapes together with ten bonus tracks, including previously unreleased songs, demos and rare B-sides. A new music video for the track "Pop Song" accompanied the release, and the band performed the entire album on an accompanying anniversary tour. On October 30, 2023, 3 Doors Down was announced by the band
Creed as a supporting band for their then-upcoming Summer of 99 tour along with
Daughtry,
Switchfoot,
Tonic,
Big Wreck, and
Finger Eleven for select dates. The Summer of 99 tour began in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024, and continued through December 5, 2024.
Arnold's cancer diagnosis and death: 2025–2026 On May 7, 2025, Brad Arnold announced that he had been diagnosed with
Stage IV clear-cell renal-cell carcinoma, a form of
kidney cancer that had metastasized to his
lungs. The announcement was made via a video message on the band's official social media platforms. As a result, all scheduled performances were cancelled. Arnold stated, "It's not my time", referencing the title of the band's 2008 single, and asked fans for prayers and support. On February 7, 2026, Arnold died from the cancer in his sleep; his death was announced by the band later in the afternoon through a statement on their social media accounts. Arnold was paid tribute from the rock music community in his honor. ==Other appearances==