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Here Without You

"Here Without You" is a song by American rock band 3 Doors Down. The power ballad[2] was released on July 28, 2003, as the third single from the band's second studio album, Away from the Sun (2002). The song reached No. 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in November 2003 and was certified double platinum in the US for shipping over 2,000,000 units. It was also successful around the world, peaking at No. 2 in Australia and reaching the top 10 in Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

For the Byrds' song, see Here Without You (The Byrds song).

"Here Without You"

"It's Not Me" (live)

July 28, 2003 (2003-07-28)

3:58

  • Brad Arnold
  • Todd Harrell
  • Chris Henderson
  • Matt Roberts

Rick Parashar

Background and meaning[edit]

Brad Arnold stated that the main inspiration for the song was his now ex-wife.[3] He explained the story behind the song: "The song's about being away from someone, or missing them. And it really doesn't matter if you're here without them for all day or all month. It's about the loneliness and missing of somebody. But in a way, people take that as a little bit of a sad song, and I kind of meant it as a happy song, because it's talking about being here without you, but she's still with me in my dreams. And tonight, it's only you and me, so the song was really about that dream. And being in a state of peace, because you've got that person there with you in your sleep. In that way I kind of meant for it to be a little bit of a happy song."[3]

Chart performance[edit]

"Here Without You" peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending November 8, 2003, becoming the band's third and final top-10 hit as of 2024.[4] Only their songs "Kryptonite" and "When I'm Gone" reached higher positions on the chart, peaking at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. It has since been certified double platinum in the United States and platinum in Australia. The song was a large success on pop radio, becoming their third No. 1 hit on the Mainstream Top 40 chart and their first No. 1 on the Adult Top 40 chart, where it stayed at the top for 13 weeks.


While one of their most popular songs, "Here Without You" was not a large hit on the band's home format of rock radio, peaking at No. 14 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and No. 22 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. After the song's release, "Here Without You" remained a staple on pop and adult contemporary radio but not on rock or alternative radio. Worldwide, the song reached No. 2 in Australia, becoming the band's highest-charting single there. It also reached the top 10 in Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand as well as the top 20 in Austria, Norway, and Sweden.

Live performances[edit]

"Here Without You" was first performed live on December 31, 2002, at First Union Spectrum in Philadelphia. As of April 1, 2019, it has been performed 443 times, making it the fifth-most-performed song by 3 Doors Down.[5]