THREE DAYS GRACE's ADAM GONTIER: 'People Have Said That Rock Is Dead, And It's The Opposite Of That'

In a recent interview with MuchMusic, Adam Gontier from Canadian rockers THREE DAYS GRACE was asked how much "social media and the trends and platforms" affect how he and his bandmates approach music now. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, for us, we're just trying to make the best music we can, so, we still sit together in a room, we write songs, we record them all and then get them out there. And the way that the music gets out there is a little bit different than it was before. But for us, it's basically the same thing. We're still still just trying to write the best songs we can. And it's pretty amazing that the whole world is at your fingertips to be able to get it out there. So, yeah, it's really cool. It is a bit of a different world from when we first started, though, for sure."

Gontier also talked about the fact that THREE DAYS GRACE's 2003 single "I Hate Everything About You" recently surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. The song, which explores the tension of a love-hate relationship, originally appeared on the band's self-titled debut album. Asked what it is like to perform the song live now, Adam said: "Yeah, it's just one of those songs, everybody sings it. I try to get the whole crowd to sing it with us. It's still pretty surreal to play that song and have just people really freak out when we play that song. And it's wild. It's crazy. It's still hard to believe."

Asked to name one thing he loves about THREE DAYS GRACE, Gontier said: "We grew up as friends in a small town in Ontario — Norwood, Ontario. A lot of bands just kind of come together and make a band and try to be a band. We were friends before the band ever took off. So that's one thing that I think is really special about us, is that we're all really good friends before we're bandmates, and that's pretty important."

Pressed about whether he thinks rock is making a comeback, with the renewed activity from such bands as 2000s emo legends MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE and British rockers OASIS, Adam said: "It does feel kind of like rock is making a bit of a comeback, especially with CREED and bands from that era are starting to tour again and make new music. So, yeah, I think it feels like there's a resurgence of those bands from the late '90s, and just rock in general. I mean, people have said quite a bit over the last decade or so that rock is dead, and it's the opposite of that."

THREE DAYS GRACE balances moments of extreme emotion on an axis of pummeling hard rock anthems and pensive balladry. Along the way, the multi-platinum record-breaking Ontario, Canada band have amassed billions of streams and millions of album sales, sold out arenas on multiple continents, and reached unprecedented heights The band also has earned now staggering 21 total No. 1 entries on the Mediabase Active Rock chart.

To date, THREE DAYS GRACE's veritable arsenal of Billboard No. 1s includes "Just Like You", "Pain", "Animal I Have Become", "Never Too Late", "Break", "Good Life", "World So Cold", "Misery Loves My Company", "The High Road", "Chalk Outline", "I Am Machine", "Painkiller", "The Mountain", "Infra-Red", "Right Left Wrong", "So Called Life", "Lifetime", "Mayday", "Apologies" and the aforementioned "Kill Me Fast".

THREE DAYS GRACE surprised fans with the return of the band's original singer Adam Gontier and along with singer Matt Walst, guitarist Barry Stock, drummer Neil Sanderson and bassist Brad Walst released their eighth studio album, "Alienation" (RCA Records). The 12 tracks on the record all play a pivotal role in defining this significantly new, but nostalgic, chapter of the band.

THREE DAYS GRACE continues to achieve new levels of success, performing at sold-out arena shows with massive festival crowds, a sold-out co-headlining tour in Canada, and hitting the stage at some of the largest venues of their career in Europe.

Last month, THREE DAYS GRACE announced the 2026 "Alienation" tour, kicking off in Fort Wayne, Indiana in February, before hitting Canada and Europe and wrapping up the tour in November for the final show in Los Angeles, California. The U.S. tour dates will receive support from I PREVAIL and THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT, and Canada will see support from FINGER ELEVEN and ROYAL TUSK on select dates.

THREE DAYS GRACE played its first full show with Gontier in 12 years on February 25, 2025 as the support act for DISTURBED on the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho.

In 1992, Gontier, Brad Walst, Phil Crowe, Neil Sanderson and Joe Grant formed GROUNDSWELL while most of the members were still in high school. That band broke up in 1995, but two years later Gontier, Sanderson and Walst reformed as THREE DAYS GRACE. Gontier left the band in 2013 and was replaced by Matt, the vocalist from another Norwood band, MY DARKEST DAYS.

Gontier initially went into rehab in 2005 in Toronto after admitting an addiction to Oxycontin. The rehab stint influenced some material which would appear on THREE DAYS GRACE's "One-X" album, including the songs "Pain" and "Over And Over".

Gontier left THREE DAYS GRACE in the spring of 2013. At the time, the Canadian rockers cited unspecified "health issues" when his departure was announced. Adam later released a statement explaining he exited THREE DAYS GRACE to pursue new projects, and not to deal with addiction.