Brad Arnold, the lead singer of the Grammy-nominated rock band 3 Doors Down, has died just months after his death was announced. Diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. He is 47 years old.
The band said in a statement Saturday that Arnold “passed away peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by loved ones, after his courageous battle with cancer.”
3 Doors Down formed in Mississippi in 1995 and four years later received a Grammy nomination for breakout hit Kryptonite. Arnold wrote the song in math class when he was 15, according to the band’s statement.
Their debut album, The Better Life, sold over 6m copies. A second Grammy nomination came in 2003 for the song When I’m Gone.
Arnold “helped redefine mainstream rock music, combining post-grunge accessibility with emotionally direct songwriting and lyrical themes that resonated with everyday listeners,” the band said.
3 Doors Down has released six albums, most recently Us and the Night in 2016. Singles include Loser, Duck and Run and Be Like That, which appeared on the soundtrack of the 2001 film American Pie 2.
While promoting their fifth album, Time of My Life, Arnold said he felt lucky to have made a career in the music business.
“If you do something as long as we do, you can’t get better at it, you know?” Arnold told The Associated Press in 2011.
In 2017, 3 Doors Down performed at Donald Trump’s first inauguration concert.
Arnold announced his cancer diagnosis last May, saying that clear cell renal cancer had metastasized to his lungs. The band was forced to cancel a summer tour.
“His music resonated beyond the stage, creating moments of connection, joy, trust and shared experiences that will live long after the stages he performed on,” the band said.
