The first time I spoke with Brad Arnold of Three Doors Down we were interviewing him from his house in Escatawpa Mississippi. Their debut album had just come out and "Kryptonite" was just starting to climb. We were his fourth radio interview ever. He seemed like a really nice, shy kid. He was really nice in a very innocent kind of way, and he was fun to talk to. You could tell this was a guy who was staring his life time dream in the face- and anything was possible. That was 26 years ago.
Through the years Brad was on with us a few more times, and we did several shows with the band. The first time I actually met him, it was that very first tour when they came to the Casino Ballroom. We got to hang with band and he was the exact same kid (although he was kind of like the young kid who was having a blast with his buddies, and his parents weren't around! haha). We sat on the stage at the Casino after the show just messing around and laughing. And I didn't know it at the time- but Andy Blacksmith had set Brad up to bust my balls. Brad said - "Hey I gotta tell you something....". I said "What is it?" and his response was -
"Greg, you got a HUGE FUCKING HEAD Dude!" - and everybody - including me, busted out laughing. He immediately went out of his way to apologize and say he was just kidding. It was important to him for me to know he didn't mean it. I was like- "Its OK man! It was hilarious!"
But that was Brad. He was just a nice, church going dude who never wanted to hurt anyone.
Over time we did more shows and interviews with him and he was always that same guy. Even though they had sold millions of records and played all over the entire world- he was still the shy, nice kid from Mississippi.
Brad passed away from cancer this weekend, and hearing the news hit me a bit harder than I expected. I knew he was sick - but had hope he'd beat it. I think it hit me that way because in this business - you get to know pretty quick which people are genuine. The real articles. And if you ask me - I knew that from that moment back in 2000, as soon as he got on the phone.
Brad Arnold was one of the good guys.
Rest in peace Brad. We will miss you.
g
ps. in the photo above, Brad is the guy on the right with the red hat. His grin says it all.