Arnold, 27, was riding shotgun and his wife, Terika, was driving on a rural Mississippi highway during a driving rain storm on Feb. 1, when she lost control and skidded off the road.

"They were coming back from a casino, hit some kind of water on the road," bandmate Todd Harrell told the Associated Press. "The car hydroplaned, went down a high embankment, and they hit a tree. I guess if Brad hadn't been wearing his seat belt, he'd probably be dead now."

According to the band's site, Arnold sustained several severe lacerations and bruises but is expected to make a full recovery.

Harnell said that Arnold received "35 or 40 stitches in the side of his face," but that his wife somehow managed to escape injury in the crash. No other cars were involved in the incident.

"He had a plastic surgeon come in and work on him--sewed his ear back on," Harell said. "He's going to be all right. He was hit hard, though."

The band, which has sold more than 12 million records during its career, had been on the road in support of its chart-topping 2005 release, Seventeen Days. Due to the accident, several shows have been either scrapped or postponed indefinitely.

With Arnold waylaid, the band isn't ready to announce makeup dates or whether it will proceed with a European tour scheduled for next month.