Robert Kelly Thomas was born in February 1972, in Landstuhl, Germany on a US military base. Originally in a band called Tabitha’s Secret, from 1996 until 2005 Thomas fronted Matchbox Twenty, who enjoyed immense success, leading to Thomas earning a “Starlight Award” from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, an award which recognizes young songwriters who have already made a lasting impact in the music industry.

In April 2005 Thomas began his solo career with the release of “…Something to Be”, which debuted at number 1 on the Billboard album chart, the first time a male artist from a rock and/or pop group has debuted at number 1 with his first solo album since the Billboard Top 200 in the 1950’s. It also reached number 11 in the UK Album chart, and topped the Australian Album chart. First single "Lonely No More" reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and debuted in the Top 10 of the Australian ARIAnet singles chart Second single, "This Is How a Heart Breaks" wasn’t as successful, but third single "Ever The Same" went gold and became a Top 5 Adult Contemporary hit. “…Something to Be” has sold over 3 million copies worldwide, half of which have been in the US.

In January 2007, Thomas released a single entitled "Little Wonders" from the soundtrack to the Disney animated feature “Meet the Robinsons”, which reached number 5 on the Mediabase Hot Adult Contemporary chart.

In other work, Thomas earned 3 Grammy awards for co-writing and singing on the Carlos Santana triple-platinum hit "Smooth" (from Santana’s 1999 album “Supernatural”), and has written material for artists such as Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, Marc Anthony, Pat Green, Taylor Hicks, Travis Tritt and Daughtry.