Brad Arnold, lead singer of 3 Doors Down, took a few minutes during the band’s set on the Summer of ‘99 tour in Hershey, Pennsylvania, to tell the crowd that Jesus loves them. 3 Doors Down is not a Christian band, but Arnold nevertheless led the people attending a secular concert to repeat the words, “I am the one that Jesus loves.”
“You are loved, you are enough, and you will win. Not only can you win, but you will win,” Arnold said. “You’ll always be enough for one reason—that’s because Jesus Christ loves you. Jesus Christ loves you so much that he made you just the way you are, just the way you’re standing there right now.”
Brad Arnold: ‘You Are Loved’
Brad Arnold is a founding member of 3 Doors Down, a band from Escatawpa, Mississippi. The band formed in 1996 and is known for a number of hit singles, such as the enormously successful “Kryptonite,” which helped their debut album become certified 7x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Other hits include “Loser,” “When I’m Gone,” and “Here Without You.”
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On Aug. 23, 3 Doors Down performed with Finger Eleven and Creed at Hersheypark Stadium. A video captured by YouTube user Shannon Dusing and verified by PennLive News shows Arnold introducing the song, “Away From the Sun.” He told the audience that he tries not to speak too much during shows but “something was put on my heart two years ago to start speaking about.”
“Away From the Sun” is “probably my favorite song we’ve ever done,” said Arnold, “because I feel like I can identify with this song more than most of our songs.”
The lyrics to “Away From the Sun” read in part:
It’s down to this
I’ve got to make this life make sense
Can anyone tell what I’ve done?
I miss the life
I miss the colors of the world
Can anyone tell where I am?
‘Cause now again I’ve found myself so far down
Away from the sun that shines into the darkest place
I’m so far down, away from the sun again
Away from the sun again
Many people feel as though they will never be enough, said the lead singer: “This world surrounds us by a message that we’ll never be good enough, we’ll never be strong enough, we’ll never be beautiful enough, we’ll never be rich enough, whatever the case may be, and certainly that we’ll never win.”
Arnold mentioned that social media promotes such messages, which are “driven down our throats every day,” including the idea that “nobody really, really loves us.”
“My friends,” said Arnold, “I just want to take a second to tell you that that’s an absolute lie.”
