

The band ended up touring for 24 months straight, doing various tours with Van Halen, Seether, and Three Doors Down. The band toured extensively in support of the album, playing over 400 live shows over the course of 20. All four singles charted in the top five of the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, peaking at fifth, third, fifth, and second, respectively. Four singles were released from the album "Fly from the Inside," "45", and a cover of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song, "Simple Man", and "Burning Bright". While not an immediate success, through the extensive touring and successful singles, eventually certified platinum by the RIAA in the United States, indicating sales of over 1 million. The resulting work was the band's debut album, Leave a Whisper, which was released May 27, 2003. The four worked together on creating demos, and submitted their work-in-progress material to Atlantic, who approved of the material and green-lighted a full-length album. The original lineup was rounded out by drummer Barry Kerch, who was the seventh drummer the band had auditioned for the spot. Smith and Stewart began recording demos together in a small local studio, whose owner recommended they meet with her fiancé, guitarist Jasin Todd, who Smith brought in as the third member. The first member he recruited was bassist Brad Stewart, through local Jacksonville music producer Pete Thornton. Smith moved to Jacksonville, Florida and began work on the project in 2001. Atlantic signed Smith to a development deal where record representatives helped him with his song-writing ability, and helped him recruit members for a new band, which would become Shinedown. The record label, unhappy with Dreve as a whole, dropped the band prior to releasing an album, but retained Smith, who they felt was worth developing separately as an artist. The band's origin's trace back to frontman Brent Smith's prior band, "Dreve," which had signed a record deal with Atlantic Records in 2000.

Shinedown has sold more than ten million records worldwide, and has had 11 number one singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, the third most of all-time, behind Van Halen and Three Days Grace. The group has released six studio albums: Leave a Whisper (2003), Us and Them (2005), The Sound of Madness (2008), Amaryllis (2012), Threat to Survival (2015), and Attention Attention (2018). Consistent for the first two album cycles, a few lineup changes followed in the late 2000s, eventually stabilizing with Smith and Kerch alongside Zach Myers on guitar and Eric Bass on bass. Smith, still under contract with record label Atlantic Records, recruited the band's original lineup of Jasin Todd as guitarist, Brad Stewart on bass, and Barry Kerch on drums. Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of his previous band.
