“Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down

Before most of the country had heard of 3 Doors Down, "Kryptonite" was a demo getting local spins on 97.9 WCPR-FM in Biloxi, Mississippi. Other stations grabbed it in November and December 1999, and at the start of 2000 it was officially sent to radio as the band's debut single, the song that opened the door for The Better Life.

It's post-grunge built for the long haul: a chugging, circular riff from Matt Roberts and Chris Henderson, Todd Harrell's bass locked in underneath, and a chorus built to be shouted with the windows down. The oddest detail is on the credits. Brad Arnold, who wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music with Harrell and Roberts, sings lead and also played the drums. Paul Ebersold produced and Toby Wright mixed.

It spent nine weeks at number one on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart and 11 on Modern Rock, the most successful song of 2000 on both, and climbed to No. 3 on the Hot 100, the band's highest-charting single in the US. It also reached No. 6 in Canada and No. 7 in Australia.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.