Rob Thomas (musician)
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| Rob Thomas | |
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 Thomas in 2005
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Robert Kelly Thomas |
| Born | February 14, 1972 |
| Origin | Landstuhl, West Germany |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock Post-grunge Pop rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, piano, guitar, Percussion |
| Voice type(s) | Baritone |
| Years active | 1996 – present |
| Label(s) | Atlantic, Emblem Music |
| Associated acts | Matchbox Twenty, Carlos Santana, Chad Kroeger, Tabitha's Secret |
| Website | robthomasmusic.com |
Robert Kelly Thomas (born February 14, 1972, in Landstuhl, West Germany on a US military base) is an American rock recording artist and songwriter. He is the primary songwriter and lead singer of the band Matchbox Twenty and formerly of the band Tabitha's Secret. 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 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.
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[edit] Musical career
[edit] ...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 Top 200 was introduced 50 years ago. 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. As a solo act, Thomas 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' 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 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 two singles: "How Far We've Come" 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]
[edit] Cradlesong
On September 15, 2008, Thomas told Billboard.com that he's "probably about 80 percent done" with his second solo record, tentatively titled "Cradle Songs" at the time.[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 "Cradle Song" 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 web-site 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 "Cradle Song" 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" [6] ) had been mastered and featured 14 tracks culled from the 24 songs recorded during the album sessions. 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 9th, 2009, Rob Thomas released "Give Me The Meltdown" on US Itunes. Similarly, "Someday" was released on June 16th. The final single was released on June 23rd, called "Fire On the Mountain". On 22nd of June, "cradlesong" was made available for streaming only on the we7 website one week ahead of its UK release date.[7]
[edit] Personal life
Rob Thomas and his wife Marisol (Maldonado) Thomas married in 1999 and currently live in New York state. Thomas has a son named Maison from a previous relationship. The Thomas' have two dogs and are committed animal lovers and supporters of animal charities. Rob and his wife have established the Sidewalk Angels Foundation[8], 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. He is a supporter of same-sex marriage.[9][10]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | CAN | UK | AUS | NZ | AUT | FRA | SWE | NOR | SPA | NED | SWI | |||
| 2005 | …Something to Be
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1 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 19 | 115 | 19 | 13 | 70 | 64 | 19 | |
| 2009 | Cradlesong
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3 | 11 | 75 | 4 | 17 | 53 | |||||||
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | RIAA | Album | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US AC | US Adult | US Pop | US Dance | UK | AUS | NZ | CAN | |||||||||||
| 2003 | "A New York Christmas" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album song | |||||||
| 2005 | "Lonely No More" | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 1 | Gold | ...Something to Be | |||||||
| "This Is How a Heart Breaks" | 52 | 25 | 3 | 41 | — | 67 | 13 | 24 | 25 | Gold | |||||||||
| "Ever the Same" | 48 | 4 | 2 | 47 | — | — | 29 | 34 | 5 | Gold | |||||||||
| 2006 | "Something to Be" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 40 | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Streetcorner Symphony" | 64 | 4 | 5 | 54 | — | — | — | — | 9 | — | |||||||||
| 2007 | "Little Wonders" | 58 | 11 | 5 | 56 | — | — | 20 | — | 16 | — | Meet the Robinsons (soundtrack) | |||||||
| 2009 | "Her Diamonds" | 23 | 16 | 3 | 41 | — | — | 1 | — | 44 | — | Cradlesong | |||||||
| "Give Me the Meltdown" | 106 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 89 | — | |||||||||
| "Someday" | 118 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart, not released, or not certified | |||||||||||||||||||
[edit] Guest singles
| Year | Single | Artist | Peak chart positions | RIAA | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Main | US Mod | US AC | US Adult | US Pop | UK | AUS | NZ | CAN | |||||
| 1999 | "Smooth" | Carlos Santana | 1 | 10 | 24 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 13 | 3× Multi-Platinum | Supernatural |
[edit] 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
[edit] References
- ^ Soundstage . Rob Thomas | PBS
- ^ Miley Cyrus Hooks Up With Rob Thomas On Twitter
- ^ "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 on 2009-03-01.
- ^ "Rob Thomas, Out of the Matchbox". Fox News. 2009-02-25. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,499865,00.html#2. Retrieved on 2009-03-01.
- ^ "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 on 2009-03-02.
- ^ Rob Thomas reveals the cover art for his second solo album, 'Cradlesong'. AOL Music Canada
- ^ "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 on 2009-06-24.
- ^ "Sidewalk Angels Foundation on Twitter". http://www.twitter.com/sidewalkangels. Retrieved on 2009-03-15.
- ^ "Huffington Post". http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-thomas/the-big-gay-chip-on-my-sh_b_208183.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-31.
- ^ "we7 Rob Thomas interview". http://www.we7.com/magazine/focus/rob-thomas-interview. Retrieved on 2009-06-24.
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Rob Thomas |
- Official website
- Rob Thomas at the Internet Movie Database
- Rob Thomas Photography
- Interview with Rob Thomas
- Rob Thomas Fansite in Spanish
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