Brad Arnold, the Christian lead singer and founding member of American rock band 3 Doors Down, has lost his battle with cancer.
He passed away in his sleep at the weekend at the age of 47 with his family by his side after revealing that he had stage-4 kidney cancer which had spread to his lungs, in May last year.
At the time he said: “But you know what? 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,”
“Brad helped redefine mainstream rock music. Brad’s songwriting became a cultural touchstone for a generation, producing some of the most enduring hits of the 2000s,” said a statement by the band announcing his passing.
HOW BRAD ARNOLD RECOVERED HIS LOST FAITH
In recent years Arnold had opened up about how faith helped him overcome addiction.
He also revealed how he felt called to share the Gospel with his fans after Jesus sent him a direct message: “I want you to tell them that I love them.”
In a podcast with his own pastor Allen Jackson last year, he explained that despite growing up in a Christian home, he fell into alcohol addiction after 3 Doors Down shot to popularity in the early 2000s with hits like Kryptonite and Here Without You.
During this time, country artist Charlie Daniels urged him to return to Nashville, Tennessee, and go into rehab where he rediscovered Christianity.
He admitted that the previous nine years of sobriety had been “the best years of my life.”
BRAD BEGINS TO PREACH AT HIS CONCERTS
He credited his pastor with encouraging him to “lead with my faith and to not be a comfortable Christian that sits in a pew and lives how they want.”
At a concert in Pennsylvania in 2024, he was prompted to share the Gospel with thousands of fans and remind them of their value as children of God.
Before performing the band’s big hit Away from the Sun, he addressed the audience, saying:
“I feel like I can identify with this song more than most of our songs.”
BRAD WARNS FANS OF THE WORLD’S “ABSOLUTE LIE”
“This world surrounds us with the message: We’ll never be good enough. We’ll never be strong enough. We’ll never be beautiful enough. We’ll never be rich enough.”
“Whatever the case may be. Social media surrounds us with those messages all the time”
“It’s driven down our throats every day, that we’ll never be good enough and nobody really, really loves us.”
“My friends, I just want to take a second to tell you, that’s an absolute lie. You are loved.”
“You are enough, and you will win. Not only can you win, but you will win.”
‘YOU ARE ALL STILL THE ONE THAT JESUS LOVES”
“You’ll always be enough for one reason: and that’s because Jesus Christ loves you.”
“Jesus Christ loves you so much that He made you just the way you are, just the way you’re standing there right now.”
“He also loves you to let you know that you’re not complete. I promise you there’s more, and you will win.”
“I failed all day today. You failed today. But you’re still the one that Jesus loves.”
“Repeat after me: I am the one that Jesus loves. Amen, my friends. Thank you so much.”
“WE FIGHT AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES IN THIS WORLD”
He confessed in the podcast with Pastor Jackson that when he heard Jesus say: “I want you to tell them that I love them this summer,” he chose to obey, even though he didn’t know how to go about that at a rock concert where half the people were standing with a beer in their hand.”
Despite the band not being overtly Christian in its music, he revealed that its members always pray before taking the stage.
“We fight against principalities in this world. I thought if our words are the most powerful things that we have, how can I get people to speak a blessing over their life?”
Arnold said he was able to share the Gospel message with about 680,000 people from the stage in 2024.
“That is the highlight of my career if I never get to do anything else. I’m so thankful that God allowed me to do that.”
‘SHARING JESUS IS 100% THE GREAT THING I EVER GOT TO DO”
Even before the cancer diagnosis, he acknowledged that he had a “short window” to share Jesus’s love given the fact that “people aren’t at a rock show to be preached at.”
“I don’t care if it costs me my career. I don’t care if it costs me my life. I can honestly, 100%, say that it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever got to do.”
Formed in 1996, 3 Doors Down has sold 30 million albums globally, received three Grammy nominations, and won two American Music Awards and five BMI Pop Awards for songwriting.
The band’s songs explore themes of angst, rebellion, revenge, yearning, depression, brokenness and abandonment.
CHRISTIAN FOUNDATIONS OF 3 DOORS DOWN
Brad Arnold often wears a T-shirt with the words Jesus or Yeshua emblazoned in bold letters,
The band’s members are all from Christian families, mostly in the southern state of Mississippi.
They have always represented conservative values, playing at the presidential inauguration concerts for the two Bushes and Donald Trump as well as for US troops in Iraq.
Brad Arnold explained it was a group decision to do a bit of preaching at the band’s concerts.
“We all grew up in church and we’re all Christians. We were happy to do it. There was no discussion at all of whether or not we should.”
TRIBUTE FROM SCOTT STAPP, LEAD SINGER OF ROCK BAND CREED
“We’ve been weighted in thought as we grieve Brad’s passing. He wasn’t just a friend to us, he was family in Christ.
His faith didn’t need to be announced, it quietly shaped who he was and how he lived.
Brad is where he longed to be, fully restored, face to face with Jesus.
I imagine him welcomed by heaven, surrounded by worship, finally stepping on the only stage that matters and we believed in so deeply, heaven.
We’ll see you again brother, and when we do, we’ll stand together in a song that never fades.”
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