3 Doors Down is an American rock band from Escatawpa, Mississippi, formed in 1996. The band originally consisted of Brad Arnold (lead vocals, drums), Matt Roberts (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Todd Harrell (bass guitar), with Chris Henderson (rhythm guitar) joining in 1998. The band rose to international fame with their debut single, "Kryptonite" in January 2000, which placed in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The band signed with Republic Records and released their debut album, The Better Life, the same year. The album was the 11th-best-selling album of that year and was certified 7× platinum in the United States. The group was later joined by drummer Richard Liles, who played during the tour for their first album.
The band's second album, Away from the Sun (2002), continued the band's success; it debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, went multi-platinum in the U.S. like its predecessor, and spawned the hits "When I'm Gone" and "Here Without You". The band toured extensively for two years, performing at nearly 1,000 worldwide shows following its release. 3 Doors Down released their third and fourth albums, Seventeen Days and their eponymous album in 2005 and 2008 respectively, both of which debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and receiving platinum certification by the RIAA. Their fifth album, Time of My Life (2011), peaked at number No. 3 and their sixth most recent album, Us and the Night (2016), peaked at number 14.
The band has been primarily described as post-grunge and alternative rock, while occasionally crossing into hard rock and southern rock. Their lyrical content contains overarching themes of angst, rebellion, revenge, yearning, and abandonment. 3 Doors Down has sold 30 million copies worldwide.
Original guitarist Matt Roberts departed in 2012, owing to health issues, before passing away in 2016. He was replaced by Chet Roberts, who was formerly Chris Henderson's guitar tech. Harrell was fired from the band in 2013 after being charged with vehicular homicide, and was replaced by bassist Justin Biltonen.
History
Formative years: 1996–1998
3 Doors Down initially consisted of Brad Arnold as the lead vocalist and drummer, Matt Roberts as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist, and Todd Harrell as the bass guitarist. The band began to tour outside Escatawpa, Mississippi, eventually coming up with their official name during a trip to Foley, Alabama. When the three were walking through the town, they saw 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 "3" to create "3 Doors Down". The cover of their 2011 album Time of My Life hints at the original number of band members (3) and current band members (5); the clock on the album cover reads 3:05.
A couple of years after performing together, Todd Harrell asked rhythm guitarist Chris Henderson to join the band in 1998. 3 Doors Down recorded a demo CD of their original songs at Lincoln Recording in Pascagoula, Mississippi. When the band gave the CD to local radio station WCPR-FM, they started playing the EP version of "Kryptonite" and it became the No. 1 requested song on the station for over 15 weeks. The station's program director sent the song to manager Phin Daly who in turn showed it to Bill McGathy, his employer at In De Goot Entertainment. 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, and went on to become the 11th best-selling album of the year, selling over three million copies. It has since been certified 6× platinum, thanks in large part to the international hit singles, "Kryptonite", "Loser", and "Duck and Run". 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". Whilst 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 in late 2002.