  Rob Thomas was born in Germany
and raised in South Carolina and Florida.
After quitting high school and eventually
settling in the Orlando, Florida area, Thomas
hooked up with Paul Douchette (drummer) and
Brian Yale (bassist). The trio began playing
music together as 'Tabitha's Secret' (with 2
other members) and then left the band, added
guitarists Kyle Cook and Adam Gaynor, and
created Matchbox 20. With a quick "Push," Matchbox 20
began a steady rise to fame that left them
with a multi-million-selling debut LP, radio
saturation of singles, and many tour dates.
Matchbox 20 hooked up with
producer Matt Serletic (who had worked on LPs
by Collective Soul) and soon
their demos landed the band a contract with
Atlantic Records.
 Matchbox 20 released Yourself
Or Someone Like You. The band's first
appearance on radio began with "Long
Day" which had some success on
alternative radio.
 # 36
Singles Artist of the Year
Rock and pop radio began to play
the single "Push" and the video
eventually became popular with MTV exposing
the band to an increasing fanbase.
Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified gold as
the band embarked on a summer tour.
 Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified
platinum.
Matchbox 20 topped the Billboard
Modern Rock Tracks chart for a week with
"Push."
Matchbox 20 hit the Top 40 with
"Push."
Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified 2x
platinum.
Matchbox 20 hit the Top 10 with "Push."
 Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified 3x
platinum.
Matchbox 20 hit the Top 40 with
"3 AM."
Readers of Rolling
Stone named Matchbox 20 the Best New
Band of the Year.
 # 4
Singles Artist of the Year (# 1
Group / Duo of the Year)
Matchbox 20 were nominated for 2
American Music
Awards including Favorite Pop/Rock
Album and Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist.
Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified 4x
platinum.
Matchbox 20 was named "Best
New Band" by the readers of Rolling
Stone.
The band hit the Top
10
with "3 AM."
Matchbox 20 was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group ("Push").
Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified 5x
platinum.
Matchbox 20 topped the Billboard
Adult Top 40 chart with "3 AM."
 Matchbox 20 hit the Top 40 with
"Real World."
Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified 6x
platinum.
Matchbox 20 hit the Top 10 with "Real World."
 In an interview, Thomas
addressed some controversy surrounding the
hit "Push": "I
don’t understand how people who claim to
have a brain can misunderstand ["Push"] so much.
It’s not about physical violence.
It’s about emotions and how somebody can
push you around without even lifting a
finger. It’s all emotional. It’s
all far more subtle. Anyway, in that song
it’s the guy who gets pushed around by a
girl he’s having a relationship with. I
had a relationship like that where I was
emotionally pushed around, and you know what?
I grew almost comfortable with it. I got used
to it. Almost enjoyed it because I thought
that’s how relationships work. I thought
it’s about getting manipulated and
controlled. It’s a bit crazy that people
claim that I’m a chauvinist and have a
violent attitude towards women."
Matchbox 20 was nominated for 2 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Group Video and Viewer's Choice ("3 AM").
Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified 7x
platinum.
 Matchbox 20 hit the Top 40 with
"Back
2 Good."
Matchbox 20 took home 2
Billboard Music Video Awards.
Matchbox 20 topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts as the Top Adult Top
40 Artist.
 Matchbox
20: # 111
Singles Artist of the Year ~ Rob
Thomas: # 88
Singles Artist of the Year
Matchbox 20 were nominated for
an American Music
Award for Favorite Pop/Rock
Band/Duo/Group.
Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified 8x
platinum.
Rob Thomas shared BMI's Pop
Songwriter Award with Mariah
Carey and Sarah McLachlan.
 In between LPs, Rob Thomas
worked with Santana on the heavily
acclaimed Supernatural with the track "Smooth" which hit the
Top 40.
"Smooth" hit the Top
10.
"Smooth" hit #1.
Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified 10x
platinum.
"Smooth" topped the
Billboard Hot 100 chart for 12 weeks and the
Adult Top 40 chart for 25 weeks.
The single "Smooth" was certified
platinum and topped the Billboard Hot 100
Singles Airplay chart for 5 weeks, the
Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart for 2
weeks, and the Billboard Top 40 Tracks chart
for 10 weeks.
 Matchbox
20: # 9
Singles Artist of the Year ~ Rob
Thomas: # 181
Singles Artist of the Year
Rob Thomas won 3 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year
and Best Pop Collaboration
with Vocals along with Santana, and Song of the Year
with Itaal Shur - all for "Smooth."
Thomas said of his work on
"Smooth": "I just fell
bass-ackwards into luck again. Everything
about "Smooth" has been so special
and so beautiful. (The band) were taking our
time making Mad
Season, so "Smooth" became
this really good bridge. We needed a break,
and it kept us from the 'Where Are They Now?'
file."
 Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified 11x
platinum.
Matchbox 20 released Mad
Season. Thomas said of the new LP:
"When we made our first record, we
hadn't really been a band for very long. We
hadn't had any really good fights, we hadn't
had any really good laughs, we hadn't done
much of anything together. But now, so much
has happened to us that we've formed a
character within ourselves. So this is really
the first time we're saying, 'This is
matchbox twenty making a record,' because now
matchbox twenty is its own entity. This is
the first one where we can really say, this
is our sound."
 Matchbox 20 hit the Top 40 with
"Bent" and 'changed'
their name to 'Matchbox Twenty.'
Mad
Season was certified 2x platinum.
The band hit the Top
10
with "Bent."
Mad
Season topped the Billboard Internet
Album Sales chart for 1 week.
"Bent" topped the
Billboard Adult Top 40 chart for 13 weeks,
the Top 40 Mainstream chart, Top 40 Tracks
chart, and Hot 100 for a week.
Matchbox 20 hit #1 with "Bent" (and also topped
Billboard's Hot 100).
The single "Bent" was certified
gold.
 Matchbox 20 hit the Top 40 with
"If
You're Gone."
Matchbox Twenty toured the U.S.
in the fall.
Matchbox 20 hit the Top
10
with "If
You're Gone."
"If
You're Gone" hit #1 on the Billboard
Adult Top 40 for 13 weeks.
Matchbox 20 was voted 'Artist of
the Year' in Rock On The Net's Poll.
Thomas topped Billboard
Year-End Charts with the Top Hot Adult
Top 40 Track ("Smooth").
 # 41
Singles Artist of the Year
 Mad
Season was certified 3x platinum.
Rob Thomas was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song ("Bent") and the band
was nominated for Best Rock Album (Mad
Season).
 Matchbox 20 hit the Top 40 with
"Mad Season."
Matchbox 20 hit the Top 10 with "Mad Season."
Matchbox 20 hit the road with Train.
 Matchbox 20 topped the Billboard
Adult Contemporary chart for 2 weeks with
"If
You're Gone."
Yourself
Or Someone Like You was certified 12x
platinum and Mad
Season was certified 4x platinum.
Matchbox 20 hit the Top 40
"Last Beautiful Girl."
Matchbox 20 topped Billboard
Year-End Charts as the Top Hot Adult
Top 40 Artist and with the Top Hot Adult Top
40 Track ("If
You're Gone").
 # 72
Singles Artist of the Year
 At the BMI Pop Awards (for
songwriting), "If
You're Gone" was named Song of the
Year.
Matchbox 20 hit the Top 40 with
"Disease."
 Matchbox 20 released their next
LP, More
Than You Think You Are.
Matchbox 20 hit the Top 10 with "Disease."
More
Than You Think You Are was certified
platinum.
 # 7
Singles Artist of the Year
Matchbox 20 performed "Disease" at the American Music
Awards.
 Matchbox 20 hit the Top 40 with
"Unwell."
Matchbox 20 postponed their
European tour due to the war in Iraq.
Matchbox 20 began touring North
America with Sugar
Ray.
Matchbox 20 topped the Billboard
Adult Top 40 chart for 18 weeks with "Unwell."
Matchbox 20 performed as part of
the the Today Show Summer Concert Series.
Matchbox 20 hit the Top 10 with "Unwell."
 Matchbox 20 hit the Top 40 with
"Bright Lights."
Matchbox 20 was nominated for 2 American Music
Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock
Band/Duo/Group and the Fan's Choice Award.
Matchbox 20 released the EP, EP, with 5 live or
acoustic tracks and a new song "Suffer
Me."
Matchbox 20 hit the Top 10 with "Bright Lights."
 Matchbox 20 topped the Billboard
Adult Contemporary chart for 2 weeks with
"Unwell."
More
Than You Think You Are was certified 2x
platinum.
Matchbox 20 topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts as the Top Hot Adult
Top 40 Artist and with the Top Hot Adult Top
40 Track ("Unwell").
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