Rob Thomas' Unusual Journey: Unapologetic Pop Star Opens Up

There 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," as Thomas puts it, in a revealing profile in the new issue of Rolling Stone.

Grab the issue for the full story, and take a look back how far Thomas has come — his career, in photos:
• Rob Thomas' Journey: From Matchbox Twenty Frontman to Chart-Topping Solo Artist

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  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
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  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
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  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
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  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

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