Brad Arnold, 3 Doors Down 'Kryptonite' Singer, Dies at 47, Months After Kidney Cancer Diagnosis

Arnold wrote the band's 2000 breakout hit in high school algebra class

NEED TO KNOW

• Brad Arnold, the lead singer of 3 Doors Down, has died at age 47
• The rocker’s death comes months after he announced his stage four kidney cancer diagnosis
• Arnold, known for songs like “Kryptonite,” “When I’m Gone” and “Here Without You,” is survived by his wife, Jennifer Sanderford

Brad Arnold — the lead singer of 3 Doors Down, known for songs like “Kryptonite,” "When I'm Gone" and "Here Without You" — has died. He was 47.

"With heavy hearts, we share the news that Brad Arnold, founder, lead singer, and songwriter of 3 Doors Down, passed away on Saturday, February 7th, at the age of 47," the band wrote in an Instagram post.

"With his beloved wife Jennifer and his family by his side, he passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, in his sleep after his courageous battle with cancer," 3 Doors Down continued, referring to Arnold's spouse, Jennifer Sanderford.

The band remembered Arnold "as a founding member, vocalist and original drummer of 3 Doors Down," and credited him with "[redefining] mainstream rock music, blending post-grunge accessibility with emotionally direct songwriting and lyrical themes that resonated with everyday listeners."

"Brad's songwriting became a cultural touchstone for a generation, producing some of the most enduring hits of the 2000s, including the band's breakout hit, 'Kryptonite,' which he wrote in his math class when he was just 15 years old," 3 Doors Down continued. "His music reverberated far beyond the stage, creating moments of connection, joy, faith, and shared experiences that will live on long after the stages he performed on."

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Arnold was also remembered as "a devoted husband to Jennifer." 3 Doors Down added: "His kindness, humor and generosity touched everyone fortunate enough to know him. Those closest to him will remember not only his talent, but his warmth, humility, faith and deep love for his family and friends."

"The family is deeply grateful for the outpouring of love and support during this difficult time and kindly asks that their privacy be respected," the post concluded. "He will be deeply missed and forever remembered."

Back in May, Arnold announced he had stage four kidney cancer. He said in part in a video on Instagram, “I've been sick a couple of weeks ago and then went to the hospital and got checked out. . . . I actually got the diagnosis that I had clear cell renal carcinoma that had metastasized into my lungs. And that's stage 4, and that's not real good.”

“But we serve a mighty God, and He can overcome anything. So I have no fear. I really, sincerely am not scared of it at all, but it is going to force us to cancel our tour this summer and we're sorry for that,” he continued.

Arnold was born in Escatawpa, Miss., in 1978. He formed 3 Doors Down when he was a high school senior with his friends Todd Harrell on bass and Matt Roberts on lead guitar.

“Not even two weeks after we played for the first time together, we played a little show at a friend's house," Arnold, who handled lead vocals and drums, told TEEN PEOPLE in 2001. "We only had four or five songs, and we just played them over and over. The week after that, we had another show. The week after that, we had another show. And we just kind of kept on pushing."

Chris Henderson joined as a second guitarist in 1998, and they released an independent CD with an early version of “Kryptonite,” which got heavy local radio play.

“I wrote that song in high school algebra class,” he told Songwriting magazine in 2022. “I was a senior in high school in South Mississippi and algebra was right after lunch. Right before lunch, I had a creative writing class. I really wasn’t very good in English class — the proper rules of English — but I was really good at creative writing. I wasn’t really good at math either. So in that creative writing class, you get kind of your wheels turning and you’re learning how to write stories. That’s how I got into writing lyrics, through writing short stories. In a way, lyrics are just a short story with a repetitive chorus.”

In 1999, 3 Doors Down signed with Universal/Republic Records and added Richard Liles as drummer, freeing up Arnold to focus just on singing and writing songs. 

Their debut album, 2000’s The Better Life, was a smash success, led by "Kryptonite,” which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and earned the band their first Grammy nod). The single "Loser" hit No. 55 and "Be Like That" reached No. 24. The album itself reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 album chart. 

"The one thing that we really did aim for in our music was to make it feel so good to us that it couldn't help but feel good to another person," Arnold told TEEN PEOPLE. "We write songs that normal people can identify with." 

But becoming famous, Arnold said, hurt his ability to write songs about normal life. “The biggest change is day-to-day life, being on the road as opposed to getting up, going to work every day and having real-life situations to inspire you to write songs," he explained. "You look outside more to people, the fans who come to shows and things like that, for inspiration because you can really lose the real world out on the road. Your house is a bus, and you're in a different city every day. You can get a little mixed up."

The band’s 2002 album Away from the Sun reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200. "When I'm Gone" reached No. 4 on the Hot 100, and "Here Without You" reached No. 5. “When I’m Gone” also received two Grammy nominations, including one for best rock song.

Their 2005 album Seventeen Days was their first to debut at the top of the Billboard 200, and their single "Let Me Go" reached No. 14 on the Hot 100. Their self-titled 2008 album was their second-consecutive No. 1, and 2011’s Time of My Life debuted at No. 3. In total, the band released six studio albums.

In 2004, 3 Doors Down established The Better Life Foundation, which works to “make a positive change in the lives of children in need of food, shelter and medical assistance, and to enhance the lives of children and young adults in need,” according to its website.

Arnold married his high school sweetheart, Terika Roberts, in 2001. They divorced in 2007, and he married Sanderford in 2009.

Arnold opened up in 2016 about his struggle with alcoholism and announced he was newly sober. “It's the best decision I've ever made,” he told WRIF in 2018 about seeking help.

The band performed at Donald Trump’s 2017 presidential inauguration and continued to tour widely. Arnold said he loved revisiting their earliest hits years later. “It is interesting to look at how those songs change, not only the sounds of the songs, but the perspective of who I am now as opposed to who I was when I wrote those songs,” he told The Young Folks in 2021. “The things that you’ve seen. You get wiser. Honestly, some of them mean a lot more to me now than they did then.”

Arnold is survived by his wife.

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