Rob Thomas's Biography And Facts'

Rob Thomas Biography Facts

Rob Thomas has been appeared in channels as follow: SantanaVEVO, Rob Thomas, Santana.

Born 14 February, 1972 (51 years old).

What is the zodiac sign of Rob Thomas ?
According to the birthday of Rob Thomas the astrological sign is Aquarius .

Career of the Rob Thomas started in 1990 .

Rob Thomas Wiki

American singer This article is about the singer.  

Rob Thomas
Thomas at the 2010 Vanity Fair party in New York City
Background information
Birth nameRobert Kelly Thomas
BornFebruary 14, 1972
Landstuhl, West Germany
OriginSarasota, Florida, U.S.
GenresPop rock alternative rock post-grunge pop soft rock adult contemporary
OccupationSinger-songwriter multi-instrumentalist actor
InstrumentsVocals guitar piano
Years active1990–present
LabelsAtlantic Emblem
Associated actsMatchbox Twenty Tabitha's Secret Itaal Shur LeAnn Rimes Santana
Websiterobthomasmusic.com

Robert Kelly Thomas is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the lead singer of rock band Matchbox Twenty. Thomas also records and performs as a solo artist, with "Lonely No More" released in 2005 becoming his biggest solo chart success. Thomas received three Grammy Awards for co-writing and singing on the 1999 hit "Smooth" by Santana.

He has been a songwriter for such artists as Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, Marc Anthony, Pat Green, Taylor Hicks, Travis Tritt and Daughtry. Since 1996, his band has released a string of hit singles to radio including "Push", "3AM", "Real World", "Back 2 Good", "Bent", "If You're Gone", "Mad Season", "Disease", "Unwell", "Bright Lights", "How Far We've Come", and "She's So Mean". In 2004, the Songwriters Hall of Fame awarded Thomas its first Hal David Starlight Award, recognizing young songwriters who have already had a lasting influence in the music industry.

 

Biography

1972-1992: Early life

Thomas was born on February 14, 1972 in Landstuhl, West Germany at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to Bill Thomas, a United States Army sergeant, and his wife Mamie . Thomas has an older half sister, Melissa, from his mother's previous marriage. The family returned to the United States when Thomas was six months old. His parents divorced when he was two years old. Thomas lived with his mother and sister. They were poor and moved frequently, often staying with Mamie's mother in Lake City, South Carolina. His grandmother was an alcoholic. She owned a small country store and gas station, where she also sold moonshine and marijuana under the counter. She gave Thomas his first heroin when he was in middle school. He grew up listening to country music and idolized the "big stars who lived ... hard lives", like Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard. Their stories inspired him to be a songwriter.

Thomas and his mother and sister moved to Sarasota, Florida, when he was 10, then settled in the Orlando area the following year. Around this time, Thomas received his first musical instrument, a Casio keyboard. A friend taught him to play, and Thomas practiced by trying to reproduce the songs he heard on the radio. He also acquired a guitar with no strings, which he used as a prop while he pretended he was in a rock band.

His home life was not stable. Thomas describes his mother as an alcoholic who occasionally beat him. When Thomas was 12, his mother was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma and given only six months to live. His sister ran away from home to get married, leaving Thomas to care for their mother on his own. She eventually entered remission. Mamie dated a series of men, some of whom beat her, and she loved wild parties. Thomas often woke up to find a dozen strangers sleeping off a hangover on their living room floor.

He attended Lake Brantley High School in the Orlando suburb of Altamonte Springs. Thomas joined the choir in an unsuccessful attempt to attract the attention of a girl that he liked. His choir teacher told him to keep working, because he saw potential in him. To impress girls at parties, Thomas wrote and played music.

A few months before graduation, Thomas dropped out of high school, saying his "regular life was in such disarray that going seemed ridiculous". He later earned a GED. He was convicted of stealing a Camaro and spent two months in county jail when he was 17. For the next two or three years, Thomas was homeless. Occasionally he'd crash for a few days or weeks at the homes of various friends. At other times, he would hitchhike around Florida and South Carolina.

Soon after getting out of jail, Thomas connected with several local musicians. He played in a series of cover bands and began writing songs in earnest. Thomas said that "in songwriting I felt special for the first time. And all I wanted to do was get out of Florida." One of his bands, Fair Warning, earned a three-week job playing at a hotel in Vero Beach. They were fired three days into the job, after they were caught stealing beer and candy from the hotel. Another band, Tidal Wave, played mostly surf tunes.

Thomas experimented with drugs. During one acid trip, he decided to play with dry ice. His hands were burned so badly that doctors initially thought they would require amputation. Thomas's sister recalled that while she was concerned with how Thomas would manage everyday activities, Thomas cried and asked "how am I going to get these songs in my head out if I can't play them?"

 

Personal life

Thomas and his wife Marisol at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.

A mutual friend introduced him to model Marisol Maldonado at an afterparty in Montreal in late 1997. They both claim it was love at first sight. Thomas said that, "I knew the second I kissed her that I would never, ever kiss another person." As he was in the midst of an international tour, their initial courtship was via phone. Maldonado was at first reluctant to date Thomas, unsure if she could handle being the wife of a rock star. When he returned to the United States, they went on their first date, to a music festival in Boston. That night, he told her he would marry her, and a month later he proposed. They were married on October 2, 1999, at manager Michael Lippman's ranch in California. Their wedding was broadcast on ABC's Celebrity Weddings in Style.

Thomas has a son from a previous relationship, Maison Eudy, born on July 10, 1998.

Thomas claims that he is sometimes mistaken for television writer Rob Thomas, and vice versa. A conversation between the two men on this subject led to Thomas agreeing to perform a musical number as himself on the TV show iZombie, penned by his namesake.

Charity work

The Thomases are committed animal lovers and supporters of animal charities. Thomas and his wife have established the P Sidewalk Angels Foundation, a non-profit organization created to help needy people in and around America's big cities by partnering with various charities to assist people who cannot afford medical care, and animals that have been abandoned or abused.

Political views

Politically, Thomas considers himself a "fairly liberal guy". He is a strong supporter of gay rights and wrote a piece in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage. He closed the article by writing, "Each of us has a short ride on this earth and as long as we stay in our lane, and don't affect someone else's ride, we should be allowed to drive as we see fit."

In 2007, Thomas was asked his opinions about Michael Vick's sentencing in the 2007 dogfighting scandal. Thomas laughed and responded, "Did he get the chair? *laughs* Did he get the chair?" Thomas then nonchalantly added, "They should have just, like, publicly hung him up."

 

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