Robert Kelly "Rob" Thomas (born February 14, 1972) is an American rock recording artist and songwriter. He is the primary songwriter and lead singer of the band Matchbox Twenty. Thomas also records and performs as a solo artist. Thomas earned three Grammy awards for co-writing and singing on the Carlos Santana triple-platinum hit "Smooth", on the album Supernatural in 1999.
He has also lent his songwriting talents to such artists as Tom Petty, Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, Marc Anthony, Pat Green, Taylor Hicks, Travis Tritt and Daughtry.
Since 1995, his band has released a string of hit singles to radio including "Push", "3 A.M.", "Real World", "Back 2 Good", "Bent", "If You're Gone", "Mad Season", "Disease", "Unwell", "Bright Lights", and "How Far We've Come". In 2004, the Songwriters Hall of Fame awarded Thomas its first Starlight Award, recognizing young songwriters who have already had a lasting influence in the music industry.
Rob also made a guest appearance playing himself and with Sinbad on the show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in the episode entitled "Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life" (season 4, episode 9). He is also a frequent guest on Real Time with Bill Maher.
Musical career
...Something to Be and Matchbox Twenty Reunion
On April 19, 2005, after nearly 10 years with
Matchbox Twenty, Thomas began his
solo career with the release of
…Something to Be which shot to #1 on the album chart. This marked the first time a male artist from a rock and/or pop group had debuted at number one with his first solo album since the
Billboard 200 was introduced 50 years prior. His first single off this album, "
Lonely No More", reached number six on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single debuted in the Top 10 of the Australian
ARIAnet singles chart on the week of April 4, 2005. The second single, "
This Is How a Heart Breaks", (used during a majority of telecasts for
ABC's coverage of the
NBA Playoffs), was not as successful, but the third single, "
Ever The Same", went gold and became a top-five Adult Contemporary hit.
As a solo act, Thomas made several significant appearances. On July 2, 2005, Thomas appeared at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia, singing a solo set and "Higher Ground" with Stevie Wonder. He also appeared on the September 10, 2005 MTV Katrina Relief Concert. On October 5, 2005, he started his first solo tour, the Something to Be Tour. In the summer of 2006, Thomas toured with Jewel and Toby Lightman.
In September 2006, Thomas's solo effort received more exposure when ABC started using the song "Streetcorner Symphony" in promotional ads for its popular Thursday night lineup. This song was subsequently released as a single.
In January 2007, Thomas released a single entitled "Little Wonders" from the soundtrack to the Disney animated feature, Meet the Robinsons. "Little Wonders" reached #5 on the Mediabase Hot Adult Contemporary chart. Thomas was featured on the June 14, 2007 episode of the long-running PBS series Soundstage.
In 2007, Thomas and his band Matchbox Twenty released another album entitled Exile on Mainstream. The album was a two-disc set with one disc featuring the band's greatest hits to date and the second disc featuring six new songs. The album released three singles: "How Far We've Come", "All Your Reasons", and "These Hard Times".
Also in 2009, Rob Thomas and Rivers Cuomo began a collaboration due to popular demand to appear on Weezer's eighth album. The song is described as reggae.
Cradlesong
On September 15, 2008, Thomas told Billboard.com the new album would tentatively be called
Cradle Songs. Thomas characterized the album as "the usual mish-mosh of styles, but hopefully just holding true to a bunch of good songs." with the article also mentioning that the record would nonetheless feature several tracks that "take a more global, rhythmic direction after working with South American and African percussionists." Thomas explained one such experiment:
On February 25, 2009, it was announced via Fox News that Thomas would be releasing his second solo record Cradlesong in May 2009. It was mentioned, in addition, that there were "at least four hot singles awaiting radio play including 'Her Diamonds' and 'Someday'."
On the same day, Thomas announced on his official website that he had been "back and forth to Los Angeles quite a bit, mixing the new record." However, he denied the album would be released in May, mentioning it "looks like it won't be coming until the last week of June or the first week of July."
On March 2, 2009, Clark Collis of Entertainment Weekly interviewed Thomas, where he confirmed he had since shelved his initial efforts to evoke The Rhythm of the Saints, and claimed the album was scheduled for a June 30 release. Having played half the forthcoming album to Entertainment Weekly, it was reported that many of the lyrics on Cradlesong centered around troubled relationships, and three more song titles were revealed: "Meltdown" (described as "INXS-esque power pop" that stood out as "a possible first single"), "Fire on the Mountain" (an "epic, tribal drum-driven" track inspired by Dave Eggers' book What Is the What) and "Getting Late" (suggested as the "set's likely closer" and what Thomas described as "a little ditty about death.").
On March 11, 2009, Rob Thomas started his own Twitter account and announced via the social application that "Her Diamonds" would be the lead single from Cradlesong.
Thomas has also stated via Twitter that Cradlesong had been mastered and featured fourteen tracks culled from the twenty-four songs recorded during the album sessions. All twenty-four tracks were fully mixed and mastered, leaving plenty of material left over for b-sides, iTunes, or EPs.
On May 21, 2009, Thomas performed "Her Diamonds" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
On June 9, 2009, Thomas released "Give Me The Meltdown" on US iTunes. Similarly, "Someday" was released on June 16. On June 22, Cradlesong was made available for streaming only on the we7 website, one week ahead of its UK release date.
Thomas promoted the album with his 2009/2010 tour, Cradlesong Tour.
In March 2010, Thomas announced plans to release a four song digital only EP entitled Someday EP. Featuring three new songs, the EP will be available on iTunes starting March 30, 2010, and all other digital retailers April 6, 2010.
In June 2010, Thomas was the special guest on Daryl Hall's monthly internet concert series "Live From Daryl's House". They performed the Matchbox 20 hits "3 AM" and "Disease", as well as Thomas solo songs "Someday" and "Ever The Same". They also performed Hall and Oates hits "She's Gone" and "Kiss On My List", and the Marvin Gaye classic "I Heard It Through The Grapevine".
Personal life
.]]He was born Robert Thomas in
Landstuhl,
West Germany on
Ramstein Air Base to parents serving in the U.S. Army, who moved the family place to place around the world. His parents divorced while Rob was very young, his father retired and took off elsewhere. He and his siblings spent much time with their mother in
Gainesville, Florida and with their grandparents in
Manning, South Carolina where he dropped out in the twelfth grade at the age of 17. He has since earned his G.E.D. Thomas and his wife
Marisol (Maldonado) Thomas married on October 2, 1999 and currently live in New York City, with a home on
Lake Marion in Manning, South Carolina, where he visits friends and family often, when not touring. Thomas has a son named Maison Avery Williams (born July 10, 1998) from a previous relationship with Kerry Williams. The Thomases are committed animal lovers and supporters of animal charities. Rob and his wife have established the Sidewalk Angels Foundation, a non-profit organization created to help needy people in and around America’s big cities by partnering with various charities to assist people who get lost in the system, those who cannot afford medical care, and animals that have been abandoned or abused. Politically, Thomas considers himself a "fairly
liberal guy", and has written in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage on the blog
The Huffington Post.
Rob Thomas considers himself to be from Orlando, Florida.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended Plays
Guest singles
See also
Matchbox Twenty
List of number-one hits (United States)
List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
List of number-one dance hits (United States)
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
References
External links
Official website
Interview with Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas Fansite
Category:1972 births
Category:Living people
Category:American baritones
Category:American male singers
Category:American rock singers
Category:American pop singers
Category:American singer-songwriters
Category:American dance musicians
Category:English-language singers
Category:Musicians from Florida
Category:Grammy Award winners
Category:People from Orlando, Florida
Category:People from South Carolina
Category:Military brats
Category:Atlantic Records artists
![Rob Thomas - Someday [Cover]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110901224441im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Tb5i-0W87cg/0.jpg "Rob Thomas - Someday [Cover]")
