- Alternative metal band formed in 1997 from Norwood, Ontario Canada. The original members were Adam Gontier (lead vocals, rhythm and lead guitars), Brad Walst (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Neil Sanderson (drums, keyboards, backing vocals). Barry Stock (lead guitar, rhythm guitar) joined the group in 2003, making the trio a quartet. Gontier left the group in 2013 and was replaced by Matt Walst on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. All members contributed to songwriting.
- Gontier, Walst and Sanderson were members of a band named Groundswell, which they formed in 1992 while in high school. They performed at whatever venue would have them, and they self-released an album in 1995, printing 1,000 copies. By the end of that year, the band split up. Two years later, the trio regrouped, forming a new band called Three Days Grace. They chose the name to create a sense of urgency to change something in their lives, with only three days to get it done. They moved to Toronto and a local producer took an interest in them. The band gave the producer a backlog of music, and the producer chose the best of the songs to create a demo album. The demo was sent to a record label, and after the president of the label heard the song I Hate Everything About You, they were signed to a contract.
- They were sent to a recording studio in Massachusetts to record their debut album. The alt metal, angst-filled songs were about love and hate in a small town – inspired by their beginnings in Norwood, a town of 4,000 people in Central Ontario. The self-titled Three Days Grace album was released in 2003. The album was a success, ultimately certified 2x platinum. I Hate Everything About You was a breakthrough hit, reaching #2 on the Alternative Airplay chart and #4 on the Mainstream Rock chart. An extensive tour and two more hit singles established the band as “the next big thing.” The single Just Like You was their first to top a Billboard chart, reaching #1 on both the Alternative Airplay and Mainstream Rock charts. Another single, Home, also was top ten on both charts.
- While touring to promote their debut, the members of the band felt isolated and alone, particularly Gontier, who became addicted to OxyContin. He went into rehab in 2005, and during this time he wrote many of the songs for their next album, 2006’s One-X. The group expanded its membership for the album, adding Stock as a second guitarist – Stock had supported the band as a touring musician since 2003. The album was their biggest success, certified 3x platinum and reaching #5 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Three singles topped the Mainstream Rock chart – Animal I Have Become, Pain and Never Too Late. All three were personal songs written by Gontier about his experience in addiction and rehab. Pain also became their highest charting single on the Hot 100 chart, peaking at #44.
- Three Days Grace released their Life Starts Now album in 2009 and the Transit of Venus album three years later. Both were top five albums on the Billboard 200 chart. Six singles topped the Mainstream Rock chart, with Break, The Good Life and World So Cold all certified platinum as singles. Three months after Transit of Venus was released, Gontier suddenly left the band. He explained that he simply wanted to start a new chapter in his life. He was replaced by Matt Walst, brother of bassist Brad. Gontier went on to start a new band, Saint Asonia, in 2015
- With Matt Walst on vocals, Three Days Grace released studio albums in 2015, 2018 and 2022. They continued their success on the Mainstream Rock chart, with seven more songs from these albums topping the chart. As of July 2022, they have had seventeen #1 songs on the chart, and Billboard ranked them as the third greatest Mainstream Rock artist of all time.
- If you’re looking for feel-good tunes, you won’t be listening to many Three Days Grace songs. But then, most hard rock, nu metal, post grunge bands tend to focus on angst. Three Days Grace has been one of the most successful of these bands. Here’s the video for the OxyContin-inspired song Animal I Have Become.