Three Days Grace: The Best of Both Worlds (Part 1 of 3)

An edited version of this feature appeared previously in Goldmine Magazine.

Hit-making rockers Three Days Grace are having it both ways: the band’s long-gone original lead vocalist has returned, now sharing the stage (and studio sessions) with the band’s current, decade-plus front man. With both Adam Gontier and Matt Walst providing powerhouse vocals for the popular group, Three Days Grace is on tour in support of its upcoming (and eighth) studio album, Alienation, released August 22.

It’s no small feat for a band to land a record deal, record music and connect with the listening public. But a band originally from the small Canadian town of Norwood, Ontario – situated halfway between Toronto and Ottawa – beat the odds again and again. Starting out in 1992 as Groundswell, the group worked the local circuit for three years before calling it a day. But that band’s three core members – vocalist Adam Gontier, bassist Brad Walst and drummer Neil Sanderson – were undaunted and committed to their musical vision; they regrouped in 1997 as Three Days Grace.

Scoring a recording contract with major-label Jive, the group released its self-titled debut in 2003. The band’s hard rocking, angsty post-grunge style caught on with listeners. The first single from Three Days Grace, “I Hate Everything About You” claimed the number one spot on the Canadian singles chart. As impressive as that was, much larger-scale success was to come. The single placed on three U.S. singles charts, eventually earning distinction as one of the decade’s ten best-performing singles on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album went double Platinum (2 million units sold) in the U.S.

High-profile tours became part of Three Days Grace’s routine. The group toured with Nickelback, Evanescence and Hoobastank. Deftly skirting the so-called “sophomore slump,” 2006’s One-X performed even better than its predecessor, reaching #5 and going triple Platinum in the States. Three Days Grace pulled off a hat trick in 2009: Life Starts Now soared to the #2 spot in Canada and #3 in the U.S., earning the group its third Platinum designation.

Three years would pass before the appearance of Transit of Venus. By that point, the group had been through some inner turmoil. The record signaled a label change as well, and while the album charted well (including taking the #1 spot on the U.S. Hard Rock Albums chart), overall sales didn’t approach the numbers of previous releases. But a major tour with Shinedown was scheduled, one that likely would have boosted the album’s sales numbers. Yet without warning (or at least that’s how it appeared to the group’s fan base), on the eve of the tour, vocalist Adam Gontier abruptly resigned from Three Days Grace.

For many bands, the loss of a lead singer, coupled with modest sales for its latest offering – would have spelled the end.

Instead, Three Days Grace rallied. Bassist Walst called up his younger brother Matt, then the lead singer of another Canadian band, My Darkest Days. Matt initially joined the tour on a temporary basis, but band and audience reaction was so positive that he soon became an official member. With Matt Walst as the band’s new front man, Three Days Grace recorded and released Human; two of the record’s four singles stormed to the #1 spot on the Mainstream Rock Singles charts, and the two others top-tenned. The band was on a roll: 2018’s Outsider spawned three singles, all of which claimed the #1 spot on that chart. 2021’s Explosions featured three more monster hits, two of which made it to the top spot.

Along the way, Three Days Grace also racked up positive critical notices and awards, including a 2015 Best Rock Band award (from Loudwire) and a 2019 Rock Artist of the Year designation at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. To casual observers, the major personnel upheaval of more than a decade past might have been all but forgotten.

But longtime Three Days Grace fans held both eras of the band’s music in high esteem. So in 2023 when Adam Gontier – who had been busy with musical projects on his own, in various collaborations and as a member of Saint Asonia – showed up onstage as a guest of the band, the unlikely suddenly became a possibility: Might he rejoin his old group? And if he did, how would that work?

By October 2024, Three Days Grace went public with the news, announcing that they were working in the recording studio with Gontier. His official return was confirmed, though fans were initially uncertain exactly what form this “Three Days Grace 2X” might take. The band soon made it clear that the new lineup would feature Matt Walst and Adam Gontier sharing lead vocal duties. Two singles were released, both presenting the two singers. Underscoring the enduring appeal of Three Days Grace in its various forms, both “Apologies” and “Mayday” climbed to the top ten on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Singles chart, with the latter claiming the number one spot.

Twenty-two years after releasing their debut single, and after seismic changes within the band, Three Days Grace is still on top. On the eve of a major tour with old friends Breaking Benjamin, TDG’s Adam Gontier and Matt Walst sat down with me to put it all into perspective and to look toward the future.

To be continued…