 Fame
& Fortune: Rob Thomas
Matchbox Twenty star is still rocking
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This has been a good year for a
man whose previous years have been pretty good as well. Rob Thomas'
band Matchbox Twenty has seen astounding success, selling more than
25 million records, including 12 million copies of its 1996 debut,
"Yourself or Someone Like You."
Then, when Thomas branched out
to record a track with Carlos Santana, the resulting "Smooth"
both revived Santana's career and made Thomas a superstar. The song
spent 12 weeks at No. 1, and an amazing 40 weeks in the top 10,
becoming the most successful single since the advent of rock 'n'
roll.
Now, with his first solo album,
"...Something To Be," Thomas has struck gold once again.
The album debuted at No. 1, making it the first solo debut by a
male member of a group or duo to accomplish that feat in the history
of the Billboard charts. And, is if this wasn't enough, the single,
"Lonely No More" reached the top of the charts as well.
Thomas took a few minutes out of his crazy, chart-topping
schedule to speak to Bankrate about how, despite his incredible
success, he still lives -- and spends -- like a relatively normal
human being.
Bankrate: Matchbox Twenty sold 25
million records. This year, you've got a No. 1 album and single.
Do you live the way most people imagine a rock star would live?
Rob Thomas: No. I don't
even live the way most of my friends who are rock stars live. It's
become really important to me to differentiate between real time
and what I call "circus time." When I'm on the road, it's
circus time. My life is like being in the circus most of the time.
But I really try to put a lot of focus on my real life, on real
time, on being at home with my wife and my dog. I think that's the
only way your art will stay good. You have to live life as you would
be living it no matter what you did for a living. If you get to
a point where all of your life is about the job, about the parties
you go to and the level of fame you achieve and the projects you're
working on, then at some point you have nothing left to write about.
You have no real life. So I try really, really hard not to live
like a rock star. That said, there's always a good side of it. I
get to go to some great shows, I get good seats at restaurants,
and I go to some great parties, but it's few and far between when
I do.
Bankrate:
What are the greatest luxuries in your life? Rob
Thomas: The greatest luxury in my job is freedom. I'm at a point now where
if I really wanted to, I could stop working, and my money could make money for
itself. So I'm at a point now where I'm only doing it because I love it. Bankrate:
What about your life has changed the least since your pre-fame days?
Rob Thomas: It
still revolves around the same kind of stuff, around a bunch of
people sitting in a room playing music all the time. It all centers
around the same thing and the same attitude about life, which is:
Let's just play the song really well. How great would that be?
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