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Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty in 2003
Background information
Also known as	Matchbox 20
Origin	Orlando, Florida, USA
Genre(s)	Alternative rock Post-grunge Pop rock
Years active	1996–present
Label(s)	Warner, Atlantic
Associated acts	Tabitha's Secret
Website	www.matchboxtwenty.com
Members
Rob Thomas Kyle Cook Brian Yale Paul Doucette
Former members
Adam Gaynor

Matchbox Twenty (or MB20, MBT, matchbox twenty, originally spelled Matchbox 20) is a rock band formed in Orlando, Florida.

Matchbox Twenty has sold in excess of 37 million albums worldwide from the releases of Yourself Or Someone Like You, Mad Season, and More Than You Think You Are. They released their latest album, Exile on Mainstream, on October 2, 2007. The current members of the band are Rob Thomas, Paul Doucette, Brian Yale, and Kyle Cook. (Adam Gaynor (rhythm guitar) left the band in 2005, after performing on their first three studio albums.) Rob Thomas is the principal songwriter and lead singer. Rob Thomas has created a well-established solo career for himself after releasing the album, ...Something to Be.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Yourself Or Someone Like You (1997-2000) 1.2 Mad Season (2000-2002) 1.3 More Than You Think You Are and band hiatus (2002-2007) 1.4 Exile on Mainstream and the future (2007-present) 2 Lineup 3 Live Members 4 Former Members 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Videos 5.3 Singles 6 References 7 External links

Rob Thomas, Brian Yale, and Paul Doucette performed in the band Tabitha's Secret, which originated in Orlando, Florida, with fellow members John Stanley and John Goff, before splitting to start a new band (what was to become Matchbox Twenty). After recruiting the talents of Adam Gaynor from Criteria Recording Studios in Miami and Kyle Cook from the Atlanta Institute of Music, the lineup was complete and ready to begin.

The band came up with the name "Matchbox Twenty" because Rob's dad, Bill, used to keep a twenty dollar bill in a matchbox for safe keeping.

Main article: Yourself Or Someone Like You

Matchbox Twenty released their debut album, Yourself Or Someone Like You, in 1996. While their first single, "Long Day", was a rock radio-only smash, the album soon spun off several Top 40 hit singles throughout 1997 and 1998, including "Push", "3 A.M.", "Real World", and "Back 2 Good". The album eventually went on to sell over 12 million copies in the U.S. alone, earning diamond status. The band toured relentlessly for several years, performing from the album, along with some cover songs such as Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" and The Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down". Their fan base grew from concert to concert based on their electrifying live performances and the longevity of their hit singles on radio. That same year, Matchbox Twenty recorded a live version of their Top-40 hit "3 AM" for release on the charity album Live in the X Lounge, benefiting cerebral palsy research.

Before recording their second album, Rob Thomas collaborated with Itaal Shur on a song called "Smooth" for Carlos Santana's comeback album, Supernatural. The song had a pop-tinged Latin beat and showcased Thomas' lyrical talents. Thomas was supposed to act solely as songwriter on "Smooth", but Carlos Santana had him sing on it as well after hearing the song's demo recording. "Smooth" was the album's lead single and became a hit in 1999; Thomas earned three Grammys for writing and performing on "Smooth", including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Main article: Mad Season (album)

In 2000, Matchbox 20 renamed themselves Matchbox Twenty and released their second album, Mad Season. The album featured lush instrumental arrangements, and spun off several hit singles, including "Bent" (which went #1 on the Hot 100) and "If You're Gone". The video for "Bent" poked fun of singer Thomas' heightened profile from "Smooth" by showing the other band members assaulting him mercilessly. The evocatively arranged ballad "If You're Gone" became a big hit, especially on adult contemporary formats. The band's next two singles, "Mad Season" and "Last Beautiful Girl" were not as successful.

Main article: More Than You Think You Are

For their third album, More Than You Think You Are, the band returned to a harder rock sound. Thomas shared the songwriting efforts with the other band members on several songs. The album contained hit singles "Disease", "Unwell", and "Bright Lights". Although it was not as commercially successful as the band's two earlier efforts, it had an enormous radio presence for well over a year, and received a large amount of critical praise.

In May 2004, the band released a live concert DVD, Show: A Night in the Life of Matchbox Twenty, filmed in Atlanta and featuring 20 songs, including all of their hit singles.

In February 2005, rhythm guitarist Gaynor officially left the group, which had been on hiatus to allow other members to pursue side projects. Rob Thomas went on to release a solo album, ...Something To Be, which became the U.S. Billboard 200 #1 album the first week of its release. The album featured four hit singles: "Lonely No More", "This Is How a Heart Breaks", "Ever the Same", and "Streetcorner Symphony".

In January 2007, Rob Thomas released a single, "Little Wonders", which he wrote for the Disney movie, Meet the Robinsons.

Main article: Exile on Mainstream

The group returned to the music scene in 2007, with the release of their 'retrospective' album, Exile on Mainstream, on October 2. "How Far We've Come" was the first single off the new album, which also includes 5 other new songs and a complete collection of all 11 of their previously released singles. The album was also released in the new MVI (Music Video Interactive) format, which includes 2 video interviews discussing the 6 new songs and 11 greatest hits, plus extras like a retrospective photo gallery, U-MYX (to remix 'How Far We've Come'), buddy icons and wallpapers, and more. How Far We've Come was released on the band's MySpace page in July, with the video release on September 6, 2007. Rob Thomas has said in several interviews that a US tour will start in January and then move onto Australia in April. On September 25, 2007, VH1.com released the band's entire album on "The Leak", a portion of their website for listening to free streaming music VH1 The Leak.

Matchbox Twenty is set to headline an amphitheater tour with special guest Alanis Morissette. The spring 2008 tour will be opened by Mute Math.

There are also rumors of a 2009 album that has yet to be named. First, Rob Thomas is expected to spend most of 2008 working on his second solo album.^[1]

• Rob Thomas – vocals and piano
• Kyle Cook – guitar and vocals
• Brian Yale – bass guitar
• Paul Doucette – drums, percussion and vocals (1996-2007) guitar and vocals (2007-present)

• Matt Beck - keyboards, mandolin, guitar and vocals (2003-current)
• Ryan MacMillan (formerly of The Push Stars) - drums and percussion (2007-present: session musician on Exile on Mainstream, while not officially part of the band lineup)

• Adam Gaynor - guitar and vocals (1996-2005)

Year	Title	Label	Billboard peak	RIAA certification
1996	Yourself or Someone Like You	Atlantic	#5	12x Platinum (Diamond)
2000	Mad Season	Atlantic	#3	4x Platinum
2002	More Than You Think You Are	Atlantic	#6	2x Platinum
2007	Exile on Mainstream	Atlantic	#3	-

• Show: A Night in the Life of Matchbox Twenty (DVD)
• Storytellers (DVD)
• Live from Australia

Year	Song	U.S. Hot 100	U.S. Modern Rock	U.S. Mainstream Rock	U.S. Adult Top 40	U.S. Top 40 Mainstream	U.S. Pop 100	UK	AUS	Album
1996	"Long Day"	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	83	Yourself or Someone Like You
1997	"Push"	-	1	4	6	3	-	38	8	Yourself or Someone Like You
1997	"3 A.M."	-	3	2	1	2	-	64	31	Yourself or Someone Like You
1998	"Real World"	38	13	17	3	4	-	19	40	Yourself or Someone Like You
1998	"Back 2 Good"	24	-	-	4	8	-	-	-	Yourself or Someone Like You
1998	"Girl Like That"[2]	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Yourself or Someone Like You
2000	"Bent"	1	16	24	1	1	-	79	19	Mad Season
2000	"If You're Gone"	5	-	-	1	4	-	50	18	Mad Season
2001	"Mad Season"	48	-	-	-	20	-	76	42	Mad Season
2001	"Angry"	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	Mad Season
2001	"Last Beautiful Girl"	-	-	-	20	-	-	96	-	Mad Season
2002	"Disease"	29	21	-	4	15	-	50	31	More Than You Think You Are
2003	"Unwell"	5	-	-	1	3	-	83	12	More Than You Think You Are
2004	"Bright Lights"	23	-	-	2	15	-	16	26	More Than You Think You Are
2004	"Downfall"	-	-	-	27	-	-	-	-	More Than You Think You Are
2004	"All I Need"	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	32	More Than You Think You Are
2007	"How Far We've Come" A	11	-	-	3	9	13	-	7	Exile on Mainstream
2007	"These Hard Times" B	-	-	-	-	-	92	-	-	Exile on Mainstream

• ^A Current Single
• ^B Album Cut, charted due to downloads on iTunes

• Official website
• Official store

v • d • e Matchbox Twenty
Rob Thomas · Kyle Cook · Brian Yale · Paul Doucette · Adam Gaynor (former)
Studio albums	Yourself or Someone Like You · Mad Season · More Than You Think You Are
Compilations	Exile on Mainstream
Singles	"Long Day" · "Push" · "3 A.M." · "Real World" · "Back 2 Good" · "Girl Like That" · "Bent" · "If You're Gone" · "Mad Season" · "Angry" · "Last Beautiful Girl" · "Disease" · "Unwell" · "Bright Lights" · "Downfall" · "All I Need" · "How Far We've Come"