Second Chance

"Second Chance" is Shinedown's most popular song, and a very personal one for their lead singer, Brent Smith. Raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, he formed a band there in the late '90s called Dreve that got a deal with Atlantic Records. They were dropped by the label before releasing any music, but Smith got a second chance when Steve Robertson, an A&R guy at Atlantic, signed him to a development deal and helped him form Shinedown. Smith had to take that chance and run with it, which he did. "It's about throwing caution to the wind and going after what you truly want in life," he said of the song.

The song got some early exposure when it was used in the season 2 promotional video for the science fiction TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The song is part of Shinedown's third album, The Sound Of Madness, released in 2008. Their first two albums did well, with songs like "45" and "Save Me" doing well on rock radio, their stronghold. "Second Chance" took them to a new level, and they managed to stay there. It was their third #1 hit on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, following "Save Me" and "Devour." They remained regulars at the top of that chart for years, landing their 20th #1 in 2025 with "Dance, Kid, Dance."