Rock world icon and 3 Doors Down founder Brad Arnold has died at the age of 47 following a fight with cancer. The band confirmed his passing in a statement, noting he died surrounded by his “beloved wife Jennifer and his family.”
Arnold revealed his diagnosis in a video last May, telling fans he was battling stage 4 kidney cancer, which had already metastasised to his lungs. The diagnosis forced the band to scrap their entire summer tour. A native of Mississippi, Arnold formed the group in 1996 alongside high school classmates Matt Roberts and Todd Harrell.
The singer famously penned the Grammy-nominated hit “Kryptonite” during a maths class when he was just 15 years old. That track catapulted the band to global fame in 2000, followed by a string of successful singles including “Loser,” “Duck and Run,” and “Be Like That.”
Their debut studio album, The Better Life, went six-times platinum, while their follow-up, Away From the Sun, produced the massive hits “When I’m Gone” and “Here Without You.” The band eventually topped the Billboard 200 with their 2005 release, Seventeen Days. Though Roberts and Harrell later departed the line-up, Arnold remained the face of the group, continuing to perform at major events, including a 2017 inauguration party for Donald Trump.
