Matchbox Twenty
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
The de facto leader of Matchbox Twenty is lead singer and songwriter Rob Thomas. An Army brat that was born on a military base in Germany, Thomas spent much of his childhood between his mothers house in Florida and his grandmothers place in South Carolina. The stress of the constant movement spilled over into his schoolwork and he dropped out of high school at the age of 17. He spent some time wandering around the Southeast, singing in a variety of ock bands before he made Orlando, FL, his home base. There, he met bassist Brian Yale and drummer Paul Doucette, and the three spent several years drifting through local bands before Matchbox Twenty officially formed. They rounded out the lineup with Adam Gaynor (rhythm guitar, vocals), who had previously worked at the Criteria Recording Studios in Miami, and Kyle Cook (lead guitar), a former student of the Atlanta Institute of Music.
The band hooked up with Collective Soul producer Matt Serletic and recorded a batch of demos, which helped the band secure gigs throughout the U.S. Soon, the band signed to Lava, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, and recorded its debut, Yourself or Someone Like You, also with Serletic. The album was released in October of 1996 to little attention, but Matchbox Twenty continued to tour America, cultivating a fan base. They eventually landed their single Long Day on several influential radio stations, which paved the way for their breakthrough hit, Push. In the spring of 1997, Push began climbing its way to the top of the modern ock charts, as it received heavy airplay from radio and MTV. By the summer, the single was in the modern ock Top Ten, and Yourself or Someone Like You had reached the album Top 40 and gone gold.
As it turns out, Push wasnt the culmination of their work but the beginning of a somewhat surprising success story. During the fall of 1997, the record picked up momentum, as 3am became a bigger hit than Push, propelling Yourself or Someone Like You to multi-platinum status. Early in 1998, the group was named Best New Band by ~Rolling Stones annual readers poll -- proof that, even if Matchbox Twenty werent winning critics, they were winning over a wide, mainstream audience. The band and its debut album continued to sell at a steady pace throughout the year as the singles Real World and Back 2 Good joined Push and 3am as radio favorites. Throughout it all, Matchbox Twenty stayed on the road, at home and abroad. They did well in foreign territories, including Canada, but they truly connected with Australia, where they went platinum eight times; in neighboring New Zealand, the band went quintuple platinum.
Matchbox Twenty reserved 1999 as the year to record their eagerly anticipated second album, but they didnt disappear from the spotlight, due to the unexpected success of Smooth, a Santana song co-written and sung by Rob Thomas. Smooth was one of many songs sung by celebrities on Santanas cameo-studded comeback album Supernatural, but it was the one chosen as the lead single. A wise choice, as it turned out, since it became a true pop phenomenon, topping many radio charts and driving Supernatural to multi-platinum sales and many industry awards. Throughout the second half of 1999, Smooth was inescapable, as it and Supernatural sat on the top of the pop charts. Its success brought more attention to Matchbox Twenty, and Yourself or Someone Like You rocketed to over ten million copies sold -- which now qualified it for the RIAAs Diamond Award, which is only granted to records that have moved over ten million units. On top of that, Thomas was named BMIs 1999 Pop Songwriter of the Year, for Smooth and his work with Matchbox Twenty. Early in 2000, Thomas won three Grammys for Smooth -- Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.
All of this success happened as Matchbox Twenty were recording their second album, again with producer Matt Serletic. The success raised expectations for the new album, entitled Mad Season, which was released in May 2000. Two years later, the band emerged with its third album, More Than You Think You Are. With this particular record, the band shared songwriting duties as a whole for the first time ever.
