三门关乐队

3 Doors Down is an American rock band formed in Escatawpa, Mississippi, in 1996. The band's founding members were Brad Arnold (lead vocals and drums), Matt Roberts (guitar and backing vocals), and Todd Harrell (bass). The band's music has been described as a mixture of post-grunge, hard rock and alternative rock.

3 Doors Down achieved mainstream popularity with their 2000 debut single, "Kryptonite", which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The song preceded their debut album, The Better Life (2000), which became the 11th-best-selling album of that year, received septuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and spawned two additional Billboard Hot 100 entries: "Loser" and "Be Like That". Their second album, Away from the Sun (2002), continued the band's success, debuting at number eight on the Billboard 200 and spawning the Billboard Hot 100 top-five singles "When I'm Gone" and "Here Without You".

The band's third and fourth studio albums, Seventeen Days (2005) and their self-titled fourth album (2008), both debuted atop the Billboard 200 and received platinum certifications by the RIAA. The band's fifth album, Time of My Life (2011), peaked at number three, and their sixth album, Us and the Night (2016), peaked at number 14.

The band is without any of its three founding members, leaving rhythm guitarist Chris Henderson (who joined 3 Doors Down in 1998) as the only member from The Better Life lineup remaining. Bassist Todd Harrell left the band in 2013 after a vehicular homicide charge, lead guitarist Matt Roberts died in 2016 from a drug overdose, and lead singer Brad Arnold died in 2026 from kidney cancer. The current lineup consists on Henderson, drummer Greg Upchurch, lead guitarist Chet Roberts and bassist Justin Biltonen.

History

Formative years: 1996–1998

3 Doors Down was formed in 1996 by Escatawpa, Mississippi, natives Brad Arnold (lead vocals and drums), Matt Roberts (guitar and backing vocals), and Todd Harrell (bass). 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. When the band gave the CD to local radio station WCPR-FM, they started playing the demo recording of "Kryptonite" and it became the number one 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.

In 1998, two years after the band formed, Harrell asked rhythm guitarist Chris Henderson, who was previously in a band named Burning Bridges, to join the group. 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, selling over four million copies. 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, receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song. 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.