There was a time in 1996 when Rob Thomas and his band Matchbox Twenty were fiercely ubiquitous. You couldn't get away from them, no matter how hard you tried.
While that's not quite the case today, he remains a major force in the popsphere with Matchbox Twenty still railing and his solo debut, "Something to Be," reigning on the charts in 2005.
Count up all the work Thomas has been associated with, including the singles "Push," "3 a.m.," "Real World," "Back 2 Good," "If You're Gone," "Bent," "Mad Season," "Unwell," "Disease" and "Smooth"-the last of which he recorded and co-wrote with Santana-and it becomes obvious why Thomas has been responsible for the sales of more than 60 million records in less than a decade. Not bad for a guy who studied piano in high school just to get girls.
The 33-year-old singer, who brings Matchbox Twenty to The Joint inside the Hard Rock hotel-casino on Jan. 1, is a masterful pop songwriter who has the rare talent of nailing the public consciousness with songs that appeal to them with an alarming consistency. Because, while Santana's "Supernatural" record was a fine effort from the aging Latin guitarist, it was absolutely Thomas' inimitable voice and expert penning that sent the album into the record books.