Behind the Band Name: 3 Doors Down

Since its inception, 3 Doors Down has been the band next door. Gritty, pop-tinged, and attitude-fueled, the alt-rock outfit had humble beginnings, writing soon-to-be-hit songs during high school algebra class.

The band broke into the mainstream when their song “Kryptonite” became an airwave favorite in the 2000s. Then all of a sudden, they could no longer be found just a few doors down, rather they were everywhere.

Behind the Name

The band was formed in 1996 by childhood friends Brad Arnold, Matt Roberts, and Todd Harrell. It was a happy accident that gifted the three Escatawpa, Mississippi, natives with their band name.

The trio was supposedly on a trip to Foley, Alabama, when they stumbled across a peculiar building while exploring the small coastal town. Some letters had fallen from the building’s sign, so it read “Doors Down.” The three-piece added the obvious to the name and then dubbed themselves 3 Doors Down.

With the new millennium, the trio became a five-some. By then 3 Doors Down was already a household name, their 2000 debut The Better Life having catapulted them onto the top of the charts.

3 Doors Down Today

In 2020, the band celebrated 20 years of their now multi-platinum debut with an exclusive re-issue and box set. Around that time, they also hinted at new material in the works and a potential follow-up to their last album, the 2016 released Us and the Night.

In an interview with Spokane, Washington’s The Spokesman-Review, Arnold explained a lot has changed in the music industry since their career-catapulting debut.

“I got into the music business 20 years ago, and that might as well have been 200 years ago when you talk about technology and the whole way the media has changed, the access to music and the way that you put it out,” he told the outlet, adding his excitement to explore today’s various avenues for releasing music.

“I’m excited to explore new ways of putting songs out. … Now you can just put a song out,” he added. “It doesn’t have to be the whole big shebang of recording a record and trying to do the release of it. Now, you can just upload it, and everyone can go get it.”

Whether new music means a full-fledged album or just a handful of singles, the frontman explained the many options “[cut] the strings that used to hold us to how it had to be.”

Photo: Dove Shore