Rob Thomas (musician)

Rob Thomas

Rob Thomas performing at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia on September 30, 2009
Background information
Birth name Robert Kelly Thomas
Born February 14, 1972 (1972-02-14) (age 39)
Origin Landstuhl, West Germany
Genres Alternative rock
Post-grunge
Pop rock
Adult contemporary
Occupations Singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals, piano, guitar, Percussion
Years active 1996 – present
Labels Atlantic, Emblem Music
Associated acts Matchbox Twenty, Carlos Santana, Tabitha's Secret
Website robthomasmusic.com

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 1996, 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 a frequent guest on Real Time with Bill Maher.

Contents

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. 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.[1]

In 2007, Thomas and his band Matchbox Twenty band 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".

In 2009, Adam Shankman approached Thomas to write a song for the film The Last Song. Thomas will reportedly collaborate with Miley Cyrus on the song.[2]

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.[3] 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 will nonetheless feature several tracks that "take a more global, rhythmic direction after working with South American and African percussionists." Thomas explained one such experiment:

“ We started off with the idea of doing a newer version of (Paul Simon's) The Rhythm of the Saints, and that kinda carried us a long way through. It gave us a whole new bed to work with, like 'How do I get my pop sensibility around this and work it into that?' It was a lot of fun. But you go through different phases when you're writing; it took a different turn, and I just followed it, too. ”

On February 25, 2009, it was announced via Fox News that Thomas would be releasing his second solo record Cradlesong in May 2009.[4] It was mentioned, in addition, that there "are 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 has been "back and forth to Los Angeles quite a bit, mixing the new record." However, he denied the album will 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 has since shelved his initial efforts to evoke The Rhythm of the Saints, and claimed the album is scheduled for a June 30 release.[5] Having played half the forthcoming album to Entertainment Weekly, it was reported that many of the lyrics on Cradlesong center 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.

Rob has also stated via Twitter that Cradlesong had been mastered and featured 14 tracks culled from the 24 songs recorded during the album sessions.[6] All 24 were fully mixed and mastered leaving plenty of material left over for b-sides, iTunes, or EPs.

On May 21, 2009, Rob Thomas performed "Her Diamonds" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

On June 9, 2009, Rob 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.[7]

In March 2010, Rob 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.[8]

In June 2010, Rob 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

Thomas was born in Landstuhl, West Germany on a U.S. military base. Thomas and his wife Marisol (Maldonado) Thomas married on October 2, 1999 and currently live in New York City. 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[9], 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.[10]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales threshold)
US
[11]		 CAN
[11]		 AUS
[12]		 UK
[13]		 GER
[14]		 NOR
[15]		 NZ
[16]		 AUT
[17]		 SWE
[18]		 SWI
[19]		 NED
[20]
2005 ...Something to Be 1 2 1 11 10 13 14 19 19 19 64
2009 Cradlesong 3 8 3 75 40 — 17 — — 56 —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Extended Plays

Year Title US[11]
2010 ...Something More —
2003 Someday (EP) 91

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions RIAA[26] Album
US
[27]		 US
AC
[27]		 US Adult
[27]		 US Pop
[27]		 CAN
[28]		 UK
[13]		 AUS
[29]		 NZ
[30]		 GER
[31]		 AUT
[17]		 SWI
[19]		 NED
[20]
2003 "A New York Christmas" — — — — — — — — — — — — Non-album song
2005 "Lonely No More" 6 1 1 6 1 11 3 9 16 24 24 39 Gold ...Something to Be
"This Is How a Heart Breaks" 52 25 3 41 — 67 13 24 — — — — Gold
"Ever the Same" 48 4 2 33 — — 29 34 — — — — Gold
2006 "...Something to Be" — — — — — — 40 — — — — —
"Streetcorner Symphony" 64 4 5 37 — — — — — — — —
2007 "Little Wonders" 58 11 5 56 22 — 20 — 20 40 13 — Meet the Robinsons (soundtrack)
2009 "Her Diamonds" 23 2 1 24 28 — 3 35 79 — — — Gold Cradlesong
"Give Me the Meltdown" 106 — — — 89 — 41 — — — — —
"Someday" 59 4 1 30 — — — — — — — —
2010 "Mockingbird" 100 — 4 — 73 — 50 — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Guest singles

Year Single Artist Peak chart positions RIAA[32] Album
US
[33]		 US Main
[33]		 US Alt
[33]		 US AC
[33]		 US Adult
[33]		 US Pop
[33]		 CAN
[33]		 UK
[34]		 AUS
[29]		 NZ
[30]		 GER
[31]		 AUT
[17]		 SWI
[19]		 NED
[20]
1999 "Smooth" Santana 1 10 24 11 1 1 13 3 4 18 21 18 9 40 Platinum Supernatural

See also

References

  1. ↑ Soundstage . Rob Thomas | PBS
  2. ↑ Miley Cyrus Hooks Up With Rob Thomas On Twitter
  3. ↑ "Rob Thomas Gets Worldly On New Solo Album". Ultimate Guitar. 2008-09-15. http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_releases/rob_thomas_gets_worldly_on_new_solo_album.html. Retrieved 2009-03-01. 
  4. ↑ "Rob Thomas, Out of the Matchbox". Fox News. 2009-02-25. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,499865,00.html#2. Retrieved 2009-03-01. 
  5. ↑ "Rob Thomas: Talking with the artist about his new album, 'Cradle Song'". Entertainment Weekly. 2009-03-02. http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/03/rob-thomas-new.html. Retrieved 2009-03-02. 
  6. ↑ Rob Thomas reveals the cover art for his second solo album, 'Cradlesong'. AOL Music Canada
  7. ↑ "Rob Thomas: Talking with the artist about his new album, 'Cradle Song' we7 exclusive". 2009-03-02. http://www.we7.com/album/cradlesong-we7-Exclusive-!albumId=295120. Retrieved 2009-06-24. 
  8. ↑ "Rob Thomas To Release Digital EP". idiomag. http://www.idiomag.com/peek/107956/rob_thomas. Retrieved 2010-03-23. 
  9. ↑ "Sidewalk Angels Foundation on Twitter". http://www.twitter.com/sidewalkangels. Retrieved 2009-03-15. 
  10. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-thomas/the-big-gay-chip-on-my-sh_b_208183.html
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Rob Thomas Album & Song Chart History". Billboard (magazine). http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/rob-thomas/chart-history/123158?f=305&g=Albums. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  12. ↑ "australian-charts.com - Australian charts portal". australian-charts.com. http://www.australian-charts.com/search.asp?search=Rob+Thomas&cat=a. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Chart Stats - Rob Thomas". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=636. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  14. ↑ "Musicline.de - Longplay-Chartverfolgung - Rob Thomas". musicline.de. http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Thomas%2CRob?sort=entry&type=longplay. Retrieved 2010-08-12. 
  15. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com - Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. http://www.norwegiancharts.com/search.asp?search=Rob+Thomas&cat=a. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  16. ↑ "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/search.asp?search=rob+thomas&cat=a. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "austriancharts.at - Austria Top 40". austriancharts.at. http://austriancharts.at/search.asp?search=rob+thomas&cat=a. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  18. ↑ "swedishcharts.com - Swedish charts portal". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/search.asp?search=rob+thomas&cat=a. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparde". hitparade.ch. http://hitparade.ch/search.asp?search=rob+thomas&cat=a. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 "Dutchcharts.nl - Rob Thomas Discography". dutchcharts.nl. http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Rob+Thomas. Retrieved 2010-00-12. 
  21. ↑ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - January 25, 2010: Rob Thomas certified albums". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Rob%20Thomas&format=ALBUM&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  22. ↑ "Canadian Recording Industry Association: Search Results". Canadian Recording Industry Association. http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  23. ↑ "BPI Search Results". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  24. ↑ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2005 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-albums-2005.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  25. ↑ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2009 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.aupagesARIACharts-Accreditations-2009Albums.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  26. ↑ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - January 26, 2010: Rob Thomas certified singles". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Rob%20Thomas&format=SINGLE&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 "allmusic ((( Rob Thomas > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gxfixqtgldae~T51. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  28. ↑ "Rob Thomas Albums & Songs Chart History". Billboard (magazine). http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/rob-thomas/chart-history/123158?f=793&g=Singles. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 "australian-charts.com - Australian charts portal". australian-charts.com. http://www.australian-charts.com/search.asp?search=rob+thomas&cat=s. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/search.asp?search=rob+thomas&cat=s. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Musicline.de - Single-Chartverfolgung - Rob Thomas". musicline.de. http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Thomas%2CRob/single?sort=entry. Retrieved 2010-08-12. 
  32. ↑ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - January 26, 2010: Search results". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 33.5 33.6 "allmusic ((( Santana > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:j9frxqw5ldse~T5. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  34. ↑ "Chart Stats - Santana Featuring Rob Thomas". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=9024. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 

External links

Rob Thomas
Studio albums
...Something to Be · Cradlesong
Soundtracks
Meet the Robinsons
Related articles
Matchbox Twenty · Tabitha's Secret · Cradlesong Tour
Matchbox Twenty
Rob Thomas · Kyle Cook · Brian Yale · Paul Doucette
Adam Gaynor
Studio albums
Yourself or Someone Like You · Mad Season · More Than You Think You Are
Compilation albums
Exile on Mainstream
Singles
"Long Day" · "Push" · "3 a.m." · "Real World" · "Back 2 Good" · "Girl Like That" · "Bent" · "If You're Gone" · "Mad Season" · "Angry" · "Last Beautiful Girl" · "Disease" · "Unwell" · "Bright Lights" · "Downfall" · "All I Need" · "How Far We've Come" · "All Your Reasons" · "These Hard Times"
Related
Awards and nominations · Matchbox Twenty discography