They started as a local sensation and pretty soon developed such a following that they became a national phenomenon. Post-grunge rock band
3 Doors Down was founded in 1994 in the small town of Escatawpa, Mississippi, by boyhood friends Brad Arnold (vocals and drums), Matt Roberts (guitar) and Todd Harrell (bass). The band soon added guitarist
Chris Henderson and retained a studio drummer so that Arnold could come forward and sing live. The group burst onto the music scene when their song “
Kryptonite” generated considerable buzz at a local radio station, which in t
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urn led to sold out gigs throughout Mississippi and later large and enthusiastic shows throughout the East coast. While the band was performing at CBGB’s in New York City, they came to the attention of Republic Records, a subsidiary of Universal, which issued the band's major-label debut, The Better Life, in early 2000. The disc has since been certified 6x Platinum thanks to the international hit singles, "Kryptonite", "
Loser", and "Duck and Run". The song "Be Like That" was rerecorded for the 2001 film American Pie 2, with alternate lyrics for the first 2 lines. This version is known as "The American Pie 2 Edit".
Away From the
Sun arrived in November 2002 - it debuted at number eight on the Billboard Top 200 and soon went gold.
Three Doors Down toured steadily throughout 2003 and 2004 in support of Away From the Sun, and issued the live EP Another 700 Miles in November 2003 as a holdover between studio efforts. The group returned with the LP Seventeen Days in early 2005. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and went platinum in its first week. “Let Me Go" and "Behind Those Eyes" charted with the most success. "Live for Today", "Landing in London" (on which
Bob Seger provided back-up vocals and guitar), and "Here by Me" were also released as singles. During the Seventeen Days tour, the band appeared alongside the southern rock band
Lynyrd Skynyrd. “We like to rock,” Arnold has been quoted as saying. Apparently, music lovers like it too—3 Doors Down has sold some 13 million records and performs at about 300 gigs per year with such top flight bands as
Nickelback and
Breaking Benjamin. The ultimate post-grunge rockers are, indeed, rocking on!