“Willie Nelson, without a doubt,” said Rob Thomas when asked by Sammy Hagar about his musical hero in 2020. Thomas called Nelson “sharp as a tack,” an “amazing guy,” and a “true troubadour,” and also shared a funny exchange he had with the country legend about his multiple marriages.
“I got to spend a couple of days with him [Nelson],” recalled Thomas. “I remember I asked him … ‘You’ve been married like five, six times, why do you get married every time?’ He said, ‘Well, Rob, I loved every one of them.’ And I said, ‘What about the one that tied you on the bed and set you on fire?’ He said, ‘Oh, I loved her the most.’”
A longtime fan, Thomas grew up listening to Nelson and said one of the first albums he ever bought was Nelson’s 1981 compilation Greatest Hits & Some That Will Be. Shortly after Matchbox Twenty had its breakthrough in the mid-1990s, Thomas also had the opportunity to work with his hero.
Before working with Nelson, Thomas had already established himself as a songwriter, writing the Matchbox Twenty hits “Push” and “3 AM,” “Real World,” “Back 2 Good” from their 1996 debut Yourself of Someone Like You, along with the band’s “If You’re Gone,” “Mad Season,” “Unwell” “Bent,” and more.
Thomas also wrote his 1999 megahit with Santana, “Smooth,” and co-wrote “Visions of Paradise” with Mick Jagger for the fourth solo album by the Rolling Stone, Goddess in the Doorway, and Marc Anthony’s 2002 single “Tragedy” by the time he worked on Nelson’s 50th album, The Great Divide.
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Along with special guest collaborations, including duets with Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Lee Ann Womack, Brian McKnight, and Kid Rock, three songs penned by Bernie Taupin, and even a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” Thomas also wrote another three songs for The Great Divide.
“I spent a year in his [Nelson’s] universe because I wrote three songs for him,” Thomas told Forbes in 2025. “Then we did one of them together on [David] Letterman, and he had Matchbox Twenty come be his backup band for a TV show for his birthday. For a year, I just kept orbiting. It was a lot of time hanging on his bus and listening to these unbelievable stories.”
He continued, “Obviously, through his music, you can tell he’s a storyteller. So, when you actually get a chance to just get in the tractor beam of him, it feels very special.”
[RELATED: The Writer’s Block: Rob Thomas Still Asks “Is This Any Good?”]
“Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me)”
Written by Rob Thomas
The opening track on The Great Divide, “Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me),” tells the story of quarreling lovers who lay their pride aside.
That’s my favorite part
Rewind my life on
When my world got dark
And you turned my light on
I watched it for hours again and again in my head
I did
I see I was down on you more than I needed to be
I’d say I’m sorry, but then you’d think I’m lyin’
Maria, shut up and kiss me
Stop shakin’, stand up and hold me
I bet you’re gonna miss me
You need me, believe me
“You wrote that song called ‘Maria,’” said Nelson about the song during an interview with Thomas. “It says it all: ‘OK, we’re fighting, we’re dumb and we’re crazy and we’re beating each other up, but let’s stop.’” Thomas added, “Sometimes, you could have a love song, but it just doesn’t seem like one. ‘Cause love takes on a lot of different emotions.”
In the music video for “Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me),” Thomas also makes a cameo as a bartender who slides a beer over to actor Luke Wilson.
“Won’t Catch Me Cryin’”
Written by Rob Thomas
Thomas also wrote the lonesome piano ballad, “Won’t Catch Me Cryin’,” about moving on after a painful love.
You won’t catch me crying over you
I think I’m leaving after all I’ve been through
Pardon me, if I love you endlessly
But you’ve got wounds that I can’t move
I won’t be not sleeping over you
If I’m sleeping far away from you
I know you think you need me
But once you had and couldn’t keep me
Isn’t this the same ground we’ve been through?
“Recollection Phoenix”
Written by Rob Thomas
The penultimate track on The Great Divide, “Recollection Phoenix,” centers around a healing love and moving through time and the road from Phoenix to Los Angeles, and back.
Recollection Phoenix
It’s funny how the miles get into me, though
And it’s funny how the earth moves
And I wonder what my baby thinks of me, oh
Recollection L.A.
Wondering who it is I’m supposed to be, oh
Anxious by the roadside
High on souvenirs and cappuccinos
But now I think I get it
I think I understand
It’s all about hope
Where you go when you get it
As the song moves on, there’s another Recollection of Las Vegas.
Recollection Vegas
Colder than it was that time in Reno
Listen to the night moves
Go out to the girls in the casino
Photo: KMazur/WireImage
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