Rob Thomas is lead singer and principal songwriter for Matchbox Twenty, who broke through in 1996 with “Push” and never looked back, issuing single after single, scoring hits in various radio formats, and watching its debut LP, Yourself or Someone Like You, go platinum 12 times over in the US. Thomas himself won numerous songwriting awards as the scribe of such Matchbox hits as “Real World,” “If You’re Gone,” “Bent,” and “Mad Season” and parlayed that success into a career as a solo artist. In 1999, he co-wrote “Smooth” for the Carlos Santana album, Supernatural, and it made Thomas a star. The track took home three Grammys, including Song of the Year, and Thomas landed on People’s “Most Beautiful People” list. Mad Season (2000) and More Than You Think You Are (2002) continued Matchbox Twenty’s success, but after years of touring for both records, the band members decided they needed a break, and Thomas used the hiatus to write and record his first solo album. When “Lonely No More” debuted in early 2005, its sleek and funky dance-pop sound was closer to Justin Timberlake than Matchbox, and it set up the April release of the chart-topper …Something to Be. Rob returned to Matchbox Twenty, but he has also maintained work on his solo material, the second batch of which arrived in 2009. Rob released The Great Unknown in 2015. He continues to tour the world.
