He is the lead vocalist for the Florida-based alternative rock band Matchbox Twenty, which he formed in 1995 and with whom he has released five studio albums.

As a solo act, he is best known for his guest performance on Santana's 1999 single "Smooth", which won three Grammy Awards, peaked the Billboard Hot 100 and in 2018, was named the second-most successful song in the chart's history.

As part of Matchbox Twenty, Thomas has written and performed their string of commercially successful singles, 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".

Thomas has also been a credited songwriter for other artists including Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, Marc Anthony, Pat Green, Taylor Hicks, Travis Tritt, and Daughtry.

[5] Thomas and his mother and sister moved to Sarasota, Florida, when he was 10, then settled in the Orlando area the following year.

[4] A few months before graduation, Thomas dropped out of high school, saying his "regular life was in such disarray that going seemed ridiculous".

When travelling, he'd tell customs officials that his occupation was "rock star", and he often dressed the part, wearing sunglasses and long furry coats.

[6] He's described the first few years with Matchbox 20 as a blur, featuring large quantities of alcohol, cocaine, and sexual relationships with women.

[6] In 1999, Latin guitarist Carlos Santana began putting together his comeback album, Supernatural, a series of duets.

[12] After winning at the Grammy Awards, Atlantic took out ads in many industry publications to make executives aware that Thomas had written not only "Smooth", but also all of the songs on the Matchbox 20 album.

One of those, "Recollection Phoenix", had been in contention for the next Matchbox Twenty album before the other band members had decided it wasn't a good fit.

[24] When the tour for More Than You Think You Are ended, Thomas, Cook, Doucette, Yale, and Gaynor decided to take a break to focus on their families.

[27] On April 19, 2005, Thomas began his solo career with the release of ...Something to Be which debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

In September 2006, Thomas's solo effort received more exposure when ABC started using the song "Streetcorner Symphony" in promotional ads for its popular Thursday night lineup.

In January 2007, Thomas released a single entitled "Little Wonders" from the soundtrack to the Disney animated feature, Meet the Robinsons.

[31] Thomas characterized the album as "the usual mish-mosh of styles, but hopefully just holding true to a bunch of good songs."

The article also mentioned that the record would nonetheless feature several tracks that "take a more global, rhythmic direction after working with South American and African percussionists."

Thomas explained one such experiment: We started off with the idea of doing a newer version of (Paul Simon's) The Rhythm of the Saints, and that kinda carried us a long way through.

But you go through different phases when you're writing; it took a different turn, and I just followed it, too.On March 2, 2009, Clark Collis of Entertainment Weekly interviewed Thomas, where he confirmed he had since shelved his initial efforts to evoke The Rhythm of the Saints, and claimed the album was scheduled for a June 30 release.

[32] Having played half the forthcoming album to Entertainment Weekly, it was reported that many of the lyrics on Cradlesong were about troubled relationships, and three more song titles were revealed: "Meltdown" (described as "INXS-esque power pop" that stood out as "a possible first single"), "Fire on the Mountain" (an "epic, tribal drum-driven" track inspired by Dave Eggers' book What Is the What) and "Getting Late" (suggested as the "set's likely closer" and what Thomas described as "a little ditty about death.").

[33] On March 11, 2009, Rob Thomas created his own Twitter account and announced via the social application that "Her Diamonds" would be the lead single from Cradlesong.

Thomas has also stated via Twitter that Cradlesong had been mastered and featured fourteen tracks culled from the twenty-four songs recorded during the album sessions.

[34] All twenty-four tracks were fully mixed and mastered, leaving plenty of material left over for B-sides, iTunes, or EPs.

[37] As Thomas wrapped up his tour for Cradlesong, he began writing songs for consideration for the next Matchbox Twenty album.

After he finished "3 A.M.", which was inspired by his mother's battle with cancer, Thomas realized that he ought to focus on events in his own life.

[3] Lisa Rockman, music reviewer for the Sydney Morning Herald, wrote, "There is a reason millions of fans across the world relate to lyrics penned by Rob Thomas.

"[56] As his career has progressed, Thomas has more frequently collaborated with other songwriters in order to "keep things fresh and not feel like I'm going back to the same well and just writing the same songs over and over and over".

"[66] Headlining Co-headlining Thomas appeared on the American sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in its fourth season, in which he played himself as a deranged patient of a rehabilitation center.

He also served as an advisor for Cee-Lo Green's team during the third season of the NBC reality competition series The Voice.

A conversation between the two men on this subject led to Thomas agreeing to perform a musical number as himself in the season two finale of the TV show iZombie, penned by his namesake.