Matchbox Twenty pictures from Rolling Stone

Rob Thomas’ Unusual Journey: Unapologetic Pop Star Opens Up

Photo: Andrew MacPheresonThere are lots of things you likely don’t know about Matchbox Twenty and solo singer Rob Thomas — that he survived a violent redneck childhood, that his weed-dealer grandmother hired a serial killer to off an ex-boyfriend, that he thinks Third Eyed Blind’s Stephan Jenkins is “really just a cock.” As Thomas releases new solo LP Cradlesong, Erik Hedegaard gets one music’s bona fide pop stars to peel back his mellow nice-guy exterior and go beyond “being one-dimensional,” a

Published: 2009-07-22 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Five Great Music Moments in “Pot Culture”

April 20 is a national stoner holiday, and the best way to celebrate getting high on the wacky tobacky is by reading. Pot Culture: The A-Z Guide to Stoner Language & Life (by Shirley Halperin & Steve Bloom, out April 20 on Abrams Image) is the ultimate reference book for being a professional stoner. Musicians are not strangers to the devil’s weed, so check out the five best music-related moments from the book. • Rob Thomas Is the King of Advice: In a section called “The Art of Scoring,” Matchbox Twenty frontman Thomas says, “The absolute last thing you want to do is walk down to the corner of Stab Me Avenue and Beat Me Street and start asking shady people if they know where you can find some really good stuff.” • Buy Vinyl: The book endorses a number of classic albums that contained stonerriffic gatefolds, including Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy and Earth, Wind & Fire’s Gratitude. • Like His Band, Adam Levine is Totally Predictable: The Maroon 5 singer writes a section called “Music to Smoke To,” and it’s got all the usual trappings: Phish, Bob Marley and Miles Davis (though he does throw a curveball with Notorious B.I.G. — a truly underrated MC for smokers). • Bob Dylan Was Also Good At Math: Sure, everybody knows that “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35″ has a fantastically smoke friendly chorus, but did you know that when you multiply 12 by 35, you get 420? • Don’t Smoke With Bob Pollard: The prolific genius behind Guided By Voices has some sure fire buzzkills in his “Music to Smoke To” page, including a track that he describes as “a guy who somehow screams and whispers simultaneously for four minutes.”

Published: 2008-04-07 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Rob Thomas on Annie Lennox: “She’s Down and Dirty”

Photo: Getty “Anybody my age turning on MTV and seeing Annie Lennox sing ‘Sweet Dreams,’ that was enough right there,” says Matchbox Twenty singer Rob Thomas of the former singer of the Eurythmics. Thomas cites her vocal variety as the key to her greatness. “When she does stuff like ‘No More I Love Yous,’ she gets this ethereal Sarah McLachlan-esque kind of thing that just sounds like a beautiful angel. And then she can switch over the sound of her voice and make it sound like she’s gargling glass. And so many people can’t do that,” he says. Click below for more from Thomas on Lennox and for more from Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. • 100 Greatest Singers: Annie Lennox, by Rob Thomas Related Stories: • The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time • What Makes a Great Singer? By Jonathan Lethem • Behind the Cover Video: Alan Light on the 100 Greatest Singers Selection Process • 100 Greatest Singers: Janis Joplin, by Stevie Nicks • 100 Greatest Singers: James Taylor, by David Crosby

Published: 2008-11-19 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Rock Bloggin’: Fall Out Boy Breaks Upper Cankle, ‘Tween Girls Line Up To Sign Cast

During Fall Out Boy’s performance at this weekend’s Voodoo Festival in New Orleans (see the gallery here), bassist Pete Wentz broke the bone that connects the foot to the shin. We’re assuming that’s the upper cankle, but there’s probably a more anatomically correct term for it. Wentz says the injury occurred while jumping around onstage, while other reports blame a posse of Rage Against the Machine fans sporting voodoo dolls. Either way, Wentz now has a good excuse to post pictures of his swollen Hobbit’s foot in his blog. “ive got good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?” is the name of the post that is oddly lacking the promised good news. He does assuage fears of concert cancellations, assuring that FOB won’t miss any shows thanks to the “rocker boot” (cast) on Wentz’s “small car sized” foot. In other news, Fall Out Boy has easily defeated Matchbox Twenty in the “Fans’ Gender Divide” category. Matchbox Twenty set the bar last week with 233 ladies in 236 comments in response to their radio controversy, but FOB blows them away by operating at a slightly higher ninety-nine percent female quotient in comments. Wentz, the trophy is yours — that is, until Panic! At the Disco breaks something. Related Stories: Smashing Pumpkins, Rage, M.I.A. Cast Spell on New Orleans at Voodoo Festival Rock Bloggin’: God Speaks to Billy Corgan, Tells Him to Post Ramblings on Public Forum Pete Wentz Talks Fame, New Fall Out Boy Songs and One Hilarious Emo Gag

Published: 2007-10-31 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Open-Letter Mailbag: Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas Responds To Radio “Blackmail”

As any artist should know by now, if you’re going to write an open letter, we’re going to read it and discuss. Today, we examine the five-paragraph retaliation note Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas directed at Charlotte, North Carolina disc jockeys Matt & Ramona. While promoting their new greatest-hits album in the north-er Carolina, Thomas came down with food poisoning. The band was able to complete their first promotional obligation, but Thomas’ sickness and time constraints forced the band to cancel their appearance on the popular rock jocks’ radio show. Matt & Ramona responded over the airwaves by saying, according to Thomas, they “weren’t going to play our music until we apologize in person to you.” Thomas did not take kindly to the “blackmail,” nor the fact that the DJs “chose to read and make fun of letters that fans sent you.” Thomas closes out the letter with “We thank you for the years of support and are sorry it has to come to an end, but there is no way we will ever apologize after being threatened on the air.” Pwned by Rob Thomas! We listened to the clips from that show and heard the DJs claim that though Matchbox Twenty canceled on them, the band was allegedly across town making good on another promotional appearance. Then, like the drive-time talk-hosts they are, Matt & Ramona filled the air-time with jokes at Thomas’ expense (while he is by all accounts an incredibly nice guy, perhaps such jabs are the media’s way of getting even with him for making everyone hear Santana’s “Smooth” a million times). One thing we learned, though, is that the gender divide between Matchbox Twenty fans is off the charts. Of the 236 comments left following Thomas’ MySpace post at press time, only three of them came from men — and one of those men was a fake Rob Thomas. Click HERE for an update on the story. Related Stories: Rock Bloggin’:

Published: 2007-10-25 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Open-Letter Mailbag, Redux: Radio DJs Respond To Rob Thomas’ Open Letter With Open Letter

On what we in the biz might call a “slow news day,” we now bring you an update on a story that was blown out of proportion this morning with … another story that will probably accomplish the same thing. Earlier, we told you about Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty’s MySpace tirade against Charlotte, North Carolina rock jocks Matt & Ramona. We listened to clips of the supposed incident and agreed that the typically level-headed Thomas may have overreacted, even though it’s a rocker’s job to defend his fans from scrutiny. Whatever your opinion is on this bizarre flap, we doubt the incident really warranted two open letters, and this much typing. But here it is: Matt & Ramona have issued an open letter in response to Thomas’ letter, so check after the jump for the complete text. An Open Letter to Rob Thomas and Matchbox 20 Thank you for the open letter posted on your MySpace website. Please accept this response as our attempt to clear the air. Anyone who listens to our show knows our personalities and how we use tongue-in- cheek tirades to entertain our listeners. We are definitely confused about your blackmail comments. We can only assume you were given false information. This is not the first time we have ranted about a disappointing occurrence. However, it is the first time that we have had such an over the top response by irate fans. Not the least of which include physical threats and letters to our sponsors. When we read one of your fans’ emails over the air, we were merely pointing out that the person writing the email obviously did not hear our show or know the facts of the situation. It was humorous to us, and most of our listeners, that someone would write us about how wrong we were, while admitting that they didn’t “actually” hear what was said. This reminded us of the gossip game where words are twisted each time they pass to another person’s ears. So we posted links of the show on our website to clear everyth

Published: 2007-10-25 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News