Brad Walst | |
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![]() Walst in 2010 | |
Born | Brad Walst February 17, 1977 Norwood, Ontario, Canada |
Occupation | Musician |
Years active | 1992–present |
Relatives | Matt Walst (brother) |
Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instrument(s) |
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Member of | Three Days Grace |
Brad Walst (born February 17, 1977) [4] is a Canadian musician. He is best known as the bassist, backing vocalist and co-founder of the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. [3] As of 2022, Three Days Grace has sold over 10 million albums and singles combined worldwide and the band's songs streams surpass two billion. [5]
Brad Walst was born in Norwood, Ontario, Canada [6] on February 17, 1977. In 1992, he attended Norwood District High School, where he met and befriended Three Days Grace drummer Neil Sanderson and former Three Days Grace singer Adam Gontier. [3] Gontier suggested Walst to play bass for the band. [7] He was in a cover band with Sanderson and Gontier called "The Jupiter Effect" and covered songs from bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam. [8] Walst had plans on becoming an accountant before turning to music. [9]
Walst played in a band called "Groundswell" in 1992 with Gontier, Sanderson, Phil Crowe and Joe Grant. [7] The band broke up in 1995 and him, Sanderson and Gontier regrouped as "Three Days Grace" in 1997. [3] Walst thought of the name whilst he was in college in a business class. [9] [10] The band was soon signed to Jive Records after being sought out by the company's then-president Barry Weiss. [3] Their debut single, "I Hate Everything About You", was released in 2003 and peaked at number one on the Canadian rock chart. [11] They also released their debut self-titled studio album that year. [12] Their second studio album, One-X , was released in 2006 and debuted at number five on the Billboard 200. [13] Their third studio album, Life Starts Now , was released in 2009, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200. It is the band's highest-charting album in the US to date. [14] The band released their fourth studio album, Transit of Venus in 2012, which peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. [15]
Following Gontier's exit from the band, his brother Matt joined the group in 2013. [16] Since then, they have released three more albums, Human (2015), [17] Outsider (2018) [18] and Explosions (2022). [19] Their first three albums went multi-platinum in Canada and the United States. [20] [21] Walst, along with Three Days Grace, was a recipient in the 2012 SOCAN Music Awards in the category Pop/Rock Music Award for their song "Lost in You". [22] Walst was inducted into the Norwood District High School Hall Of Honor in 2022 along with Adam Gontier and brother Matt Walst. [7]
Walst cites influences from grunge music, as well as the 90s Seattle rock scene, which has also been an influence to Three Days Grace. He has also cited inspiration from Alice in Chains, Nirvana, The Tragically Hip and Our Lady Peace. [23] [9] On writing bass lines, Walst likes taking the "less is more" approach and considers his style of playing very melodic. [24]
Walst uses an Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay as his main bass guitar, [25] as well as using a Lakland bass in the past, during the recording of the band's second album, One-X . [26] He bought his first Ernie Ball bass in 2002, before the group signed with Jive Records. He took out a loan to fund it and has remained a part of his set up ever since. [25] He also uses two Peavey Headliners, an Ampeg SVT-810E Bass Cabinet and a Mesa Boogie amp. He has several boss pedals, an electro-harmonix effects pedal and various bass drivers. [27]
Walst has a wife named Rhonda and they have three kids. [26] [10] He currently resides in Norwood, Ontario. [28] His son James Walst was diagnosed with having a cancerous neuroblastoma tumor. [29] He joined the James Fund's walk-run fundraiser with a goal to reach $3,000 in donations. [29] He has a younger brother named Matt who is currently the lead singer for Three Days Grace and former vocalist for My Darkest Days. [16]
Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band formed in Norwood, Ontario, in 1992 originally as Groundswell. Groundswell played in various local Norwood backyard parties and area establishments before disbanding in 1995 and regrouping in 1997 under its current name.
Adam Wade Gontier is a Canadian singer and musician. He is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for Saint Asonia, but is best known as the former lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and founding member of the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. Gontier left Three Days Grace on January 9, 2013. In addition to his work with Three Days Grace and Saint Asonia, he has been involved in collaborations with other bands including Art of Dying, Apocalyptica, Breaking Benjamin, Skillet and Thousand Foot Krutch.
Neil Christopher Sanderson is a Canadian musician. He is the drummer, backing vocalist, keyboardist, and co-founder of the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. He cites his influences as John Bonham, Danny Carey, and Stewart Copeland. He is also the co-founder of the American record label Judge and Jury.
"Pain" is a song by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was released on September 19, 2006, as the second single from their second studio album, One-X.
"Just Like You" is a single by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was the second single from their eponymous debut album. In 2004, the song became their first number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. Despite peaking at number one on both charts, it still did not capture the popularity and pop radio success of their prior single, "I Hate Everything About You", which had peaked at numbers two and number four, respectively, but overall having more airplay on mainstream rock, active rock, and modern rock radio stations than "Just Like You". However, both songs peaked at the same position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song earned a nomination at the 2005 Radio Music Awards for "Song of the Year: Rock Radio".
"Never Too Late" is a song by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was released on May 7, 2007 as the third single from the band's second album One-X.
"Break" is a song by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was released as the lead single on September 1, 2009 from their third studio album, Life Starts Now. The song peaked at number 26 on the Canadian Hot 100 and number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in February 2018.
My Darkest Days was a Canadian rock band based in Peterborough, Ontario, consisting of lead vocalist Matt Walst, bassist Brendan McMillan, drummer Doug Oliver, guitarist Sal Costa, and keyboardist Reid Henry. They were discovered by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, who signed them to his record label, 604 Records. They are best known for their 2010 single "Porn Star Dancing".
Transit of Venus is the fourth studio album by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was released on October 2, 2012 through RCA Records. The album is the band's first to be released under the record label, following the folding of their former label, Jive Records, in 2011. The album was produced by Don Gilmore and recorded at Revolution Studios in Toronto.
"Chalk Outline" is the lead single from Canadian rock band Three Days Grace's fourth album, Transit of Venus. The band released many "snippets" of the song before August 14 to tease fans. It reached No. 1 on the U.S. Active Rock chart for a total of 10 weeks and won the "Rock Song of the Year" award given by Loudwire. Billboard ranked the song at number 8 on their "Greatest of All Time Mainstream Rock Songs" list.
"The High Road" is a song by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace, released as the second single from their fourth studio album Transit of Venus on January 22, 2013.
"Misery Loves My Company" is a song by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace, from their fourth studio album Transit of Venus released on May 14, 2013. The track became the band's tenth song to reach number-one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in its November 2, 2013, issue. It is the band's eleventh No. 1 single in total. It is the last single to feature Adam Gontier on lead vocals.
"Painkiller" is a song by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. The song was released on April 1, 2014, as the lead single from their fifth studio album Human. It is the first single released with new singer Matt Walst, following the departure of Adam Gontier. The song reached number-one on the US Mainstream Rock chart, which made it their eleventh number-one single.
"I Am Machine" is a song by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. The song was released as a single on September 30, 2014. It is the second single from the band's fifth studio album Human. The song became the group's thirteenth number-one on the Active Rock charts, as well as their twelfth on the US Mainstream Rock chart.
Human is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. The album was released on March 31, 2015 through RCA Records. This is the group's first album without original lead singer Adam Gontier, and the first with My Darkest Days lead singer and Brad Walst's younger brother Matt Walst.
"Fallen Angel" is a song by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. The song was released on 15 September 2015, as the fourth and final single from the band's fifth studio album Human.
Outsider is the sixth studio album by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was released on March 9, 2018 through RCA Records. The album was produced by two of the band's prior producers, Gavin Brown and Howard Benson but also by members of the band themselves. It is the second album to feature Matt Walst as lead vocalist.
"The Mountain" is a song by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was released on January 25, 2018 as the lead single from their sixth studio album Outsider. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in March 2018 and became Three Days Grace's 13th number one on the chart while tying the record with Van Halen. The song is featured in the NBA 2K19 soundtrack.
Explosions is the seventh studio album by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was released on May 6, 2022, through RCA Records. The album was produced by Howard Benson and by members of the band.
Matthew Jean Paul Walst is a Canadian singer, songwriter and musician. He is the current lead singer of the band Three Days Grace, which also includes his older brother Brad as bassist. Before joining Three Days Grace, he was the lead singer of My Darkest Days.
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