Inside 3 Doors Down founder Brad Arnold’s personal life before death at 47

The 3 Doors Down singer was born on September 27, 1978 in Escatawpa, Mississippi. When he was a high school student in the bayou state, Brad wrote his band’s breakout song, “Kryptonite.”

The band was founded that same year with Brad’s classmates – Matt Roberts and Todd Harrell. On a trip to Foley, Alabama, the trio saw a sign that read “Doors Down,” and simply added “three” as they formed the band.

In 2000, 3 Doors Down released their first album, The Better Life. It went on to become the 11th best selling album of the year, with four million copies sold, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song for “Kryptonite.”

After the huge success of 3 Doors Down’s first album, Brad married his high school sweetheart, Terika Roberts in 2001. But, because of the success of their debut album, Brad spent a lot of time away on tour away from his new wife.

Many of the band’s songs revolved around Brad’s feelings of loneliness and distance from his relationship. So, after six years of marriage he and Terika divorced.

Two years after he divorced Terika, Brad married his second wife Jennifer who is a star in her own right. She is a professional barrel racer – which is a rodeo event in which a rider and their horse maneuver around barrels.

They were married until Brad’s death in 2026. The two didn’t have children, instead focusing on their relationship.

Almost a year ago, Brad was diagnosed with Stage IV clear cell renal cell carcinoma – which is a type of kidney cancer. It metastasized to his lungs. In 3 Doors Down’s statement announcing Brad’s death, they remembered him as a “devoted husband to Jennifer” and a shining light whose “kindness, humor and generosity touched everyone fortunate enough to know him.”