Courtesy of Country Now, a music newspaper for country music.
The frontman of rock band 3 Doors Down Brad Arnold had passed away following his cancer diagnoses. The band made an announcement on social media that surrounded by family members and wife Jennifer Sanderford, Arnold had passed away in his sleep.
“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,” 3 Doors Down wrote in a statement on Instagram.
Arnold had Stage 4 kidney cancer. Specifically, it is called Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma after the cancer metastasized to his lungs on May 7, 2025. It resulted in the cancellation of the 2025 summer tour called the “Summer of 99” tour with Florida rock band Creed.
In addition, the band had also planned on doing the Creed Cruise in the summer of this year.
Celebrities such as lead singer of the band Shinedown, Brent Smith paid an emotional tribute on his Instagram page.
“Thank you for the music. Thank you for the songs. Thank You for your love. Thank you for your friendship, and thank you for inspiring us all. May your light shine through all of time, and space forever,” Shinedown wrote in Instagram.
He was also remembered in the country music community with stars like Jason Aldean, Josh Ross, Bobby Bones and members of Rascal Flatts Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney also paying tribute.
In addition, Arnold was a recovering alcoholic who stopped drinking in 2016. In 2006, he was in a car accident after the vehicle hydroplanned and collided into a tree resulting in stitches and one of his ears being sewn back on. He was not the driver of the vehicle.
Symptoms of this form of cancer are a fever, fatigue, unexplained weight loss, blood in urine, persistent side or back pain and a palpable abdominal lump. Arnold had noticed his symptoms weeks prior to the band`s cancer announcement.
Most memorable hits of 3 Doors Down include Kryptonite, It`s Not My Time, Let Me Go and Here Without You. Arnold was one of the only original members of the band that formed in 1996.
When their first album The Better Life released in 2000, it had sold over seven million copies. In 2002, they released their second album Away From The Sun, which had other hits such as When I`m Gone and The Road I`m On.
Let Me Go was released on their third album, Seventeen Days in 2005 along with another single with Bob Segar, Landing In London. Another hit from that album was Behind Those Eyes.
The band got their name after the trio, Brad Arnold, Todd Harrell and Matt Roberts saw a broken sign saying Doors Down and since there were only three members at the time, they decided to name their group 3 Doors Down.
Their first drummer Richard Liles joined in 2000 but left two years later when former Nickelback drummer, Daniel Adair joined in 2002. There have been several lineup changes with Arnold being the only original member of the band.
Paul Singh Portfolio 