On March 12, 2001, 3 Doors Down was the first artist to perform in the Indoor Sports Complex since Bob Dylan in 1991. The concert was originally scheduled for March 6, but had to be postponed due to a snowstorm that trapped students and faculty.
The concert featured special guess Oleander and Shades Apart, but the band Fuel could not perform as planned when the show had to be rescheduled. According to the Statesman‘s article about the concert, tickets did not sell as expected, and even after increased promotion, the Student Polity Activity Board was only able sell about 2,500 of 3,000 tickets. Security caught 22 crowd-surfers, one of which was injured, during the performance.
The band was promoting their debut studio album, “The Better Life,” which was released on Feb. 8, 2000. The album, featuring hits “Kryptonite” and “Loser,” was the 11th best selling of the year and sold over 3 million copies. Their follow-up album was released on Nov. 12, 2002. “Away from the Sun” sold 4 million copies worldwide.
In 2003, the band established their own charity, The Better Life Foundation, with the mission to give children better lives. The band hosts annual benefit concerts with guest acts like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Shinedown and auctions of musical items donated from famous acts. In 2006, the band , which is from Mississippi, allotted proceeds from the event to benefit the survivors of Hurriance Katrina.
The band toured for their album “Seventeen Days” alongside Lynyrd Skynyrd in 2005. Their fourth album, self titled, was released on May 20, 2008, and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. In 2011, they released their fifth album, “Time of My Life,” which debuted at N0. 3.
