Hailing from the small town of Escatawpa, MS, near Biloxi, 3 Doors Down forged a major-label contract using popular live shows and the reputation of a single song. Their hit, "Kryptonite," generated unprecedented buzz at local radio station WCPR in Biloxi, helping to make them hometown favorites and enabling them to draw relatively large crowds to their local live shows, which consequently, helped them extend their range beyond Mississippi and the deep south to internationally famous clubs like New York's CBGB.

Originally a trio consisting of vocalist and drummer Brad Arnold, guitarist Matt Roberts and bassist Todd Harrell, the band soon added guitarist Chris Henderson and retained a studio drummer so that Arnold could come forward and sing live. The CBGB show brought them to the attention of Republic Records, a subsidiary of Universal, which issued the band's major-label debut, The Better Life, in early 2000. Away from the Sun arrived in November 2002 -- it debuted at number eight on the Billboard Top 200 and soon went gold. 3 Doors Down toured steadily throughout 2003 and 2004 in support of Away from the Sun, and issued the live EP Another 700 Miles in November 2003 as a holdover between studio efforts. The group returned with the LP Seventeen Days in early 2005. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and went platinum in its first week of release. A self-titled album, which followed in May 2008, repeated its predecessor's success when it too debuted at the top of the Billboard 200.