About
What do you do after you've sold a bazillion records with your band? Two words: solo career. Rob Thomas began his career fronting rock stalwarts, Matchbox Twenty. Thomas' soulful vocals and expert songwriting, along with a straightforward rock production put a punctuation mark at the end of the grunge era as they reached multiplatinum success with their debut record. But with his collaboration with Carlos Santana, Thomas showed he was more than just a faceless lead singer of a rock band of the moment. He wrote and sang the song "Smooth" off of Santana's huge Supernatural album. It was the biggest hit of Santana's career and garnered the duo three Grammy awards. Thomas returned to the Matchbox Twenty fold and produced two more middle-of-the-road rock records before he switched gears by releasing his solo debut, 2005's Something To Be. Featuring a brighter more open sound that Matchbox Twenty's efforts, the album included more keyboards and dance production values to highlight Thomas' energetic, neo-soul voice and sultry swagger. Mostly on the strength of the single "Lonely No More," the release debuted as the No. 1 record in the country and launched Thomas as an artist with great commercial and artistic potential. His second album, Cradlesong, appeared in the summer of 2009.
- Jon Maples
