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\n\tOn a warm afternoon in May 2001, newly minted rock star Brad Arnold<\/a> stepped onto the stage at Washington, D.C.\u2019s RFK Stadium to an estimated crowd of 60,000 people. Wearing a fitted black Led Zeppelin T-shirt and jeans, he grabbed the microphone stand as his bandmates in 3 Doors Down<\/a> churned into the riffy single \u201cDuck and Run,\u201d the post-grunge band\u2019s third straight No. 1 Mainstream Rock radio hit.<\/p>\n \n\tBut backstage after their set at HFStival \u2014 which also featured upstarts Coldplay and Linkin Park, as well as a resurgent Weezer, among other hitmakers of the era \u2014 the band celebrated not with token rock & roll hedonism, but by mingling with family members who made the trip from Escatawpa, Mississippi, over Memorial Day weekend. Three days later, their debut album, The Better Life<\/em>, was certified Platinum on its way to moving seven million copies in the U.S.<\/p>\n \n\tNews that Arnold died after a battle with renal cell carcinoma on Feb. 7<\/a>, nine months after receiving a stage IV cancer diagnosis, uncorked an outpouring of grief and memories from fans and contemporaries who had witnessed the singer\u2019s bonhomie over his 25 years in the spotlight. Country star Hardy sang the chorus to \u201cHere Without You,\u201d<\/a> which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard<\/em> Hot 100 in 2003, as a tribute during his performance that evening in London, Ontario. Members of Creed, Seether, Three Days Grace, and Shinedown praised Arnold on social media.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHe\u2019s just one of those guys everybody liked,\u201d says Kenny Vest, a longtime friend and the radio programmer who helped 3 Doors Down land a record deal by spinning an early recording of \u201cKryptonite<\/a>\u201d on WCPR-FM in Biloxi, Mississippi. \u201cBrad was a simple country boy who had a talent for writing music, and I don\u2019t even think he knew what he had on his hands.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBut while Arnold and the band went on to sell 30 million albums, cementing a legacy as one of the post-grunge era\u2019s most successful groups, 3 Doors Down also were forced to navigate a series of tragedies, some by their own making.<\/p>\n