Rob Thomas

Singer-songwriter

• Born: February 14, 1972
• Place of Birth: Landstuhl, Germany

Contribution: Rob Thomas is a rock musician best known as the lead singer for the rock group Matchbox Twenty and for his solo work.

Background

Robert Kelly Thomas was born on February 14, 1972, on the Ramstein Air Base in Landstuhl, Germany, where his parents were serving in the US military. They divorced when Thomas was a child, and he and his siblings moved with his mother to Gainesville, Florida. As a young teen, he helped care for his mother after her diagnosis with cancer; he later described her as alcoholic and abusive. Thomas also spent much of his childhood with his grandmother in Turbeville, South Carolina, where he attended high school but dropped out during his senior year when he was seventeen.

Thomas spent several years sleeping on friends’ couches and on park benches, eventually moving in 1993 to Orlando, Florida. There he joined the band Tabitha’s Secret, a precursor to his breakout band, Matchbox Twenty. After one self-published album and with a developing regional following in central and south Florida, Thomas and fellow Tabitha’s Secret band members Paul Doucette and Brian Yale accepted a long-term deal with the production company Melisma in 1995. The two remaining Tabitha’s Secret members did not sign the deal, and Thomas, Yale, and Doucette went on to form Matchbox Twenty.

Career

Shortly after forming what would become Matchbox Twenty, the band landed a seven-record contract with Atlantic Records. Their 1996 debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You, features numerous hit singles, many of them carried over from Tabitha’s Secret.

The album was a huge success, and although it never topped the Billboard charts, it went platinum ten times by 2000. The single “Push” was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998 for best rock vocal performance by a duo or group. That same year the album was nominated for an American Music Award (AMA) for favorite pop/rock album, the band was nominated for an AMA award for favorite pop/rock new artist, and Thomas was featured in People magazine as one of 1998’s Most Beautiful People.

Despite the massive success of Matchbox Twenty, Thomas was not independently renowned until 1999 when he collaborated with Mexican American musician Carlos Santana on the song “Smooth.” Thomas initially wrote the song for Santana, who later asked Thomas to perform it on his album Supernatural. The song spent twelve weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and won three Grammy Awards: song of the year, record of the year, and best pop collaboration with vocals, which Thomas shared with Santana. The song also led Thomas to become the youngest songwriter ever inducted into the South Carolina Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame.

Matchbox Twenty’s second album, Mad Season, was released in May of 2000. Although it was not as commercially successful as the debut album, it sold over 3.5 million copies, went platinum four times, and boosted the success of the group’s upcoming tour. After the album’s release, tickets for a Matchbox Twenty concert at New York City’s Madison Square Garden sold out within fifteen minutes of going on sale.

The band’s third album, More than You Think You Are (2002), was even less commercially successful than its first two albums. Thomas collaborated with bandmates on two of the songs, and he cowrote “Disease” with rock legend Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones.

After several years of touring, the members of Matchbox Twenty decided to go on hiatus. Thomas used this time to record his first solo album, Something to Be (2005). The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, making it the first time a male artist’s solo rock or pop album debuted on top. The album featured several hit singles that established Thomas as a versatile artist able to successfully bridge the rock and pop genres. Following the success of the album, Thomas embarked on the Something to Be Tour, his first as a solo artist.

Matchbox Twenty ended its hiatus in 2007 with a two-disk release of the hits album Exile on Mainstream, which also features six new songs written by Thomas. Thomas’s second solo album, Cradlesong, was released in 2009 and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart. The album received generally positive reviews from critics. Matchbox Twenty released its fourth album, North, in 2012 and toured in 2013.

Thomas went on to release the solo albums The Great Unknown and Chip Tooth Smile in 2015 and 2019, respectively. Many of the lyrics on those albums were inspired by his wife's health challenges, and Thomas attempted a more contemporary sound with that album. However, songs from The Great Unknown failed to make the Billboard Hot 100 chart, much to Thomas's dismay. For his fourth solo outing, Chip Tooth Smile, Thomas made an album he wanted, returning to his older, alt-rock styling and focusing on such heavy themes as aging and mortality.

Thomas has continued songwriting and touring, both independently and with Matchbox Twenty.

In 2021, he released his first Christmas album, Something About Christmas Time. The album feature a number of original Christmas songs with just a few covers of songs from other artists. These included the title song, which was written by Bryan Adams in 1985.

Impact

Thomas went from being homeless to one of the biggest names in rock music. His work with Matchbox Twenty has been consistently successful, and Thomas has exhibited his versatility as an artist and vocalist with his solo work. He has used his success to establish the Sidewalk Angels Foundation, a nonprofit organization he and his wife began in 2003 to provide funding to grassroots groups around the United States. The group also supports animal rights charities.

In 2004 Thomas became the first recipient of the Starlight Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The award is given to young musicians who have had a big influence on the music business.

Personal Life

Thomas married Marisol Maldonado on October 2, 1999, and they toured together for the better part of twenty years . He has cared for his wife as she has struggled with Hashimoto’s disease, atypical trigeminal neuralgia, and tick-borne illnesses. Thomas has a grown son, Maison, from a previous relationship, and serves as godfather to the children of Matchbox Twenty's Matt Serletic. The Thomases founded an animal-rescue nonprofit called Sidewalk Angels Foundation.

Bibliography

Davidowitz, Esther. “Rock Star Rob Thomas.” Westchester Magazine. Today Media, 24 May 2011. Web. 9 Sept. 2013.

Erlewine, Thomas. “Matchbox Twenty.” Billboard. Billboard, n.d. Web. 9 Sept 2013.

Frost, Caroline. “Rob Thomas, Paul Doucette Talk Marriage, Music-Making and Matchbox Twenty’s Latest Album ‘North.’” Huffington Post. AOL Canada Music, 10 Apr. 2012. Web. 4 Sept. 2013.

"Something About Christmas Time: Rob Thomas Has the Pandemic to Thank for His First-Ever Holiday Album. ABC Audio Digital Syndication, 2021, digital.abcaudio.com/news/something-about-christmas-time-rob-thomas-has-pandemic-thank-his-first-ever-holiday-album. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

Tailor, Leena. “Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas on ‘Horrible Relationships,’ Cocaine, Fatherhood.” Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 27 June 2013. Web. 4 Sept. 2013.

Thomas, Rob. “The Big Gay Chip on My Shoulder.” Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 27 May 2009. Web. 9 Sept. 2013.

Varga, George. “Grass Greener for Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas.” UT San Diego. San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 July 2013. Web. 4 Sept. 2013.