Matchbox Twenty Artistfacts

Matchbox Twenty song list

Matchbox Twenty Artistfacts

1995-
Rob ThomasLead vocals, guitar, piano
Brian YaleBass, piano, backing vocals
Paul DoucetteGuitar, piano, percussion, backing vocals
Kyle CookGuitar, vocals
Adam GaynorGuitar1995–2005
Matchbox Twenty is an alternative/post-grunge band formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995. Three of the members were originally in a band "Tabitha's Secret," also from Orlando, which broke up.
Their 1996 debut album was Yourself or Someone Like You, from which both the songs "Push" and "3 AM" were top-ten charters. The album went on to be diamond-certified at 12 million copies sold.
"Bent" was their first Hot 100 #1 in 2000. It also had a popular video, in which lead singer Rob Thomas walks through an urban setting singing while surrounded by crowds, and gets generally beaten up by the other members of the band, including former rhythm guitarist Adam Gaynor hitting him with a car and Paul Doucette, in a big ten-gallon cowboy hat, starting a scuffle with him on a street corner. Thomas says that this song is about a relationship between two people who are both messed up, but they can deal with each other.
Rob Thomas has evolved some in his singing style since the band's inception. In the beginning, his style was very unpolished and had more of a vulnerable quality to it. In later albums, his style is much more professional and his range has become more versatile.
Thomas has released four solo albums on his own steam: ...Something To Be (2005), Cradlesong (2009), The Great Unknown (2015), and Chip Tooth Smile (2019).
At a 2006 Cleveland concert, Thomas confided onstage that when he looks back now on the songs he wrote when he was younger, the only one that he thinks has stood the test of time is "3 AM," written about his anxieties over his sick mother. Rob was 12 when his mother was diagnosed with cancer and originally given six months to live; she beat the cancer and made a full recovery.

Comments: 1

Kat Pero from Rochester N.y.Rob Thomas has one of the voices that bring real emotion to every song he sings

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Love Won't WaitGary Barlow

Madonna wrote a song called "Love Won't Wait" that she didn't want, but became a UK #1 hit for Gary Barlow.

Hey There DelilahPlain White T's

When he met Delilah DiCrescenzo, Plain White T's lead singer Tom Higgenson told her he'd write a song about her, and came up with the first verse of "Hey There Delilah" on the spot.

The Long and Winding RoadThe Beatles

"The Long and Winding Road" became The Beatles' last US #1 song on June 13, 1970.

16-tear-old Lorde wrote the lyrics to "Royals" at home in just half an hour. She was inspired by the "ridiculous, unrelatable, unattainable opulence" that runs through such albums as Kanye West and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne and Lana Del Rey's Born To Die.

GreaseFrankie Valli

The song "Grease," sung by Frankie Valli in the 1978 movie, was written by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees.

Run To YouBryan Adams

"Run To You" by Bryan Adams was written for Blue Oyster Cult, and the guitar part is modeled after "Don't Fear The Reaper." BOC turned it down, so Adams recorded it for his album Reckless.