Three Days Grace

During their teenage years, the future members of Three Days Grace hammered away at punk riffs, forging a vigorous style that powered their concerts from the outset. Blending the raw emotion of alternative rock, the weight of metal, and the grit of grunge, this Canadian outfit swiftly became central figures in the post-grunge era. After debuting in 2003, they claimed the summit of the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart through platinum-certified releases such as One-X (2006) and Life Starts Now (2009), then sustained their prominence in hard rock during the 2010s and afterward via globally charting projects including Human (2015), Outsider (2018), and Explosions (2022).

Three Days Grace originated in Norwood, Ontario, Canada, in 1997 when Adam Gontier (vocals, guitar), Brad Walst (bass), and Neil Sanderson (drums) came together. Previously known as the five-piece Groundswell that existed from 1992 until its reduction to a trio five years later, the band drew lyrical inspiration from small-town existence in a community of roughly 1,500 residents where Gontier and Walst grew up. Still enrolled in high school, they played their initial show and accepted any available venue, even serving as an opener inside a cinema.

The group later moved to Toronto, where their former manager connected them with producer Gavin Brown. After delivering a private performance, Brown chose the strongest songs for a demo submitted to EMI Music Publishing Canada. Under Brown’s direction they cut the track “(I Hate) Everything About You,” which secured the EMI publishing agreement and soon attracted the attention of Jive Records president, leading to a label deal. Brown and the band tracked the debut album first in a Boston, Massachusetts, studio before finishing it at an isolated Woodstock, New York, facility that shielded them from urban interruptions. Drawing from Kyuss and Sunny Day Real Estate, the resulting dark, angst-laden stories of small-town relationships earned Three Days Grace early “Next Big Thing” recognition.

Issued on July 22, 2003, the self-titled album arrived after “(I Hate) Everything About You” had already gained traction on Canadian alternative radio. For the following two years the band toured relentlessly in support slots and as headliners, yet prolonged road life eventually fostered feelings of isolation, particularly for Gontier. That sense of disconnection—and the realization that others shared it—shaped the next record. Returning to their origins by writing in the Ontario countryside, they released One-X in June 2006; the set climbed to number five on the Billboard Top 200 and introduced second guitarist Barry Stock. Summer dates alongside Staind, Hoobastank, and Nickelback followed, while “Animal I Have Become” topped the modern rock chart.

Life Starts Now, the third studio album, appeared in 2009 and peaked at number three on Billboard’s album chart. After sharing bills with Nickelback and Avenged Sevenfold, the group entered the studio for the more atmospheric, electronic-tinged Transit of Venus, which again reached the Billboard 200 Top Five. Early 2013 brought Gontier’s departure for health reasons; he was succeeded by Brad Walst’s brother Matt Walst, formerly of My Darkest Days. Following tours and sessions with the new vocalist, the singles “Painkiller” and “I Am Machine” both hit number one on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart in 2014. The darker, loss-themed fifth album Human arrived in spring 2015. In July 2017 the band issued “The Mountain” ahead of their sixth long-player, Outsider, which surfaced in early 2018 and received Juno Award nominations for Album of the Year and Rock Album of the Year in 2019. Partially tracked in isolation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the seventh album Explosions—co-produced with Howard Benson and released in 2022—centered on finding personal balance amid surrounding turmoil.