Never Too Late (Three Days Grace song)

"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.^[3]

"Never Too Late"
Single by Three Days Grace
from the album One-X
Released	May 7, 2007
Genre	Post-grunge[1] hard rock[2]
Length	3:29
Label	Jive
Songwriter(s)	Adam Gontier
Producer(s)	Howard Benson Gavin Brown
Three Days Grace singles chronology
"Pain" (2006) "Never Too Late" (2007) "Riot" (2007)
Alternative cover
Deluxe single cover

Background

The lyrical content of "Never Too Late" is inspired by feelings of depression, isolation and suicidal ideation. Adam Gontier, the songwriter and band's lead singer, stated, "I guess it's like feeling like you're at the end of your rope and deciding whether or not to completely give up or whether or not to try and sort of keep making it through another day."^[4] He stated that the song was his favorite off the album.^[5] According to bassist Brad Walst, "Never Too Late" was the first track written from One-X.^[6]

On October 23, 2007, Three Days Grace released a single featuring "Never Too Late" and two Clear Channel acoustic recordings of "Pain" and "I Hate Everything About You".^[7] On February 12, 2008, an EP was released through iTunes containing the album version of "Never Too Late", an acoustic version and the music video.^[8]

The song was featured in a promo for the television show Eleventh Hour.^[9]

Music video

The music video was directed by Tony Petrossian and was released in 2007.^[10] The video tells a story about a girl who has a mental breakdown from childhood to adulthood. Gontier stated that the concept was dark but there was a sign of hope towards the end of the video.^[11] The music video features an appearance by Gontier's then-wife, Naomi Brewer and actress Matreya Fedor.^[11] The video has 265 million views on YouTube as of August 2023.^[10]

Chart performance

"Never Too Late" debuted on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart at number 33.^[12] On the week of August 9, 2007, the song jumped from number three to number one, to overtake Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer".^[13] The song topped the Mainstream Rock chart for seven weeks.^[14] The song also peaked at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[15] The song reached number two on the Alternative Airplay chart, staying longer than their number one hits at 43 weeks, beating "Animal I Have Become" by two weeks and "Pain" by a hefty 13 weeks.^[16] The song is also the band's only cross-over hit to date charting on both the Mainstream Top 40 and Adult Top 40 formats at number 12 and number 13 respectively.^[17][18] The song peaked at number 30 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart.^[19]

Awards and nominations

The song was nominated for two awards at the 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards for "Best Video" and "Best Rock Video".^[20] The song won a BDS Certified Spin Award based on the 100,000 spins it received in November 2007.^[21] The song was listed in Loudwire's "66 Best Hard Rock Songs of the 21st Century" in 2020.^[2]

Awards and nominations for "Never Too Late"

Year	Organization	Award	Result	Ref(s)
2007	MuchMusic Video Awards	MuchLOUD Best Rock Video	Nominated	[20]
		Best Video	Nominated
	BDS Certified Spin Award	100,000 spins	Won	[21]

Track listing

Promotional single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Never Too Late"	3:29

"Never Too Late" ringle (single+ringtone)^[7]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Never Too Late"	3:35
2.	"Pain (Clear Channel stripped version)"	3:19
3.	"I Hate Everything About You (Clear Channel stripped version)"	6:22
4.	"Ringtone"	0:30

Never Too Late (EP)^[8]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Never Too Late"	3:29
2.	"Never Too Late (acoustic)"	3:31
3.	"Never Too Late (music video)"	3:31

Credits and personnel

Credits for "Never Too Late" adapted from AllMusic.^[22]

Three Days Grace Adam Gontier – lead vocals, acoustic guitar Barry Stock – lead guitar Brad Walst – bass Neil Sanderson – drums, backing vocals

Production Howard Benson – producer Gavin Brown – producer Michael Tedesco – A&R

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Never Too Late" Chart (2007–08) Peak position Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[19] 30 Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[23] 21 Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[24] 10 Canada Rock (Billboard)[25] 2 US Billboard Hot 100[15] 71 US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[18] 13 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[16] 2 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[14] 1 US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[17] 12

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "Never Too Late" Chart (2007) Position Canada Rock (Radio & Records)[26] 12 US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[27] 11 US Mainstream Rock Songs (Billboard)[28] 7

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[29]	Platinum	80,000‡
United States (RIAA)[30]	2× Platinum	2,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Version	Label	Ref(s).
United States	May 7, 2007	Alternative radio	Main	Jive	[3]
		Mainstream rock			[31]
Various	October 23, 2007	CD	Ringle		[7]
United States		Contemporary hit radio	Main
Various	February 12, 2008	Digital download	EP		[8]

References

1. "One-X by Three Days Grace on iTunes". iTunes. The second album by Ontario's Three Days Grace balances scalding metallic hard rock like opener "It's All Over" and the rabidly fist-pumping "Riot" with sincere post-grunge power ballads like "Never Too Late," "On My Own," and "Get Out Alive."
2. "The 66 Best Hard Rock Songs of the 21st Century". Loudwire. October 2, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
3. "Available for Airplay Archive: 2007 – May". FMQB. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
4. "Three Days Grace singer feels the pain". Today. June 2, 2006. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
5. "Tour Diary - Week One". threedaysgrace.com. May 5, 2006. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
6. Gary Graff (May 16, 2007). "Three Days Grace Five Songs Into Third Album". Billboard. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
7. "Three Days Grace - Never Too Late (Ringle)". AllMusic. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
8. "Never Too Late (Deluxe Single) by Three Days Grace". Apple Music. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
9. "11th Hour - Three Days Grace". YouTube. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
10. "Three Days Grace - Never Too Late". IMVDb.com. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
11. "Never Too Late - Behind the Scenes w Adam & Naomi". YouTube. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
12. "Mainstream Rock Songs: Week of May 19, 2007". Billboard. May 19, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
13. Jonathan Cohen (August 9, 2007). "Kingston Has No. 1 Song, Top Debut On Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
14. "Three Days Grace Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
15. "Three Days Grace Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
16. "Three Days Grace Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
17. "Three Days Grace Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
18. "Three Days Grace Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
19. "Three Days Grace Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
20. "MuchMusic Awards 2007 - Nominees". Archived from the original on April 16, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
21. "BB-2007-11-24" (PDF). p. 73. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
22. "Never Too Late - Three Days Grace Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
23. "Three Days Grace Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
24. "Three Days Grace Chart History (Canada Hot AC)". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
25. "Three Days Grace Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
26. "Top Canada Rock Songs" (PDF). Radio & Records. p. 86. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
27. "Alternative Airplay Songs – Year-End 2007". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
28. "Mainstream Rock Songs – Year-End 2007". Billboard. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
29. "Canadian single certifications – Three Days Grace – Never Too Late". Music Canada. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
30. "American single certifications – Three Days Grace – Never Too Late". Recording Industry Association of America.
31. "Available for Airplay Archive: 2007 – May". FMQB. Archived from the original on November 25, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2024.

External links

• "Never Too Late" official music video on YouTube