Rob Thomas Admits He Wasn’t Supposed to Sing on ‘Smooth’ with Santana, Reveals the Famous Singer He Had in Mind Instead
Rob Thomas Admits He Wasn’t Supposed to Sing on ‘Smooth’ with Santana, Reveals the Famous Singer He Had in Mind Instead
Meredith WilshereSat, November 14, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC
0
Singer Rob Thomas and musician Carlos Santana in 2010Credit: Lester Cohen/WireImage -
Rob Thomas originally wrote “Smooth” for another artist to sing
Santana chose Thomas after hearing his demo and believing he was the right voice for the song
The 1999 hit spent 12 weeks at No. 1 and earned three Grammy Awards
“Smooth” almost sounded entirely different.
Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas and guitarist Paul Doucette joined the Zach Sang Show on Nov. 9 to reflect on their 30th-anniversary concert tour and how a few of their songs came to be.
When host Zach Sang asked Thomas, 54, whether he always planned to have “a solo career” or if Santana’s “Smooth” just “plopped in your lap,” Thomas revealed he “was originally just supposed to write on it.”
“I wasn’t going to sing it,” he admitted.
“I was actually in the office with Clive Davis going through ideas of who could sing it. Like I was trying to help push George Michael for a while,” Thomas shared. “The actual intention was I wanted to write a song that went to someone else that I didn’t sing on, like I wanted to be a writer and I thought this was a good way to start that part.”
Carlos Santana (R) and Rob Thomas perform in 2000Credit: HECTOR MATA/AFP via Getty
Thomas emphasized that he “wanted to make songs with Matchbox” but “be a writer” for others; however, the 1999 song changed the course of his career.
“Even Carlos, like, he didn’t know me. He just listened to the demo. He’s like, ‘Well, I like this guy. Does he sing?’ And they were like, ‘Oh, yeah. He’s just had some success with this band.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, let’s just use him. I believe him,’” Thomas recalled.
Having ended up being the one who sang it, Thomas jokingly admitted he might’ve made some changes — specifically with the song’s opening lyrics.
“It’s a blessing and a curse...it just sounds so funny,” he said. “Like when you talk about singing at you, like every time I hear it, it’s always this like, ‘Man, it’s a hot one…’ that’s what I hear every time I hear that song.”
Advertisement
Thomas admitted that the original song lyrics and melody “were kind of frivolous for Carlos.”
“It was about like there was a party in room 227 and everybody was going to come party in the room, and Carlos was like, ‘I like this vibe, but I don’t want to sing about that,’” Thomas shared. “So I knew that I had a smoking hot Latino wife, and I knew it was Carlos. I felt like Robby Krieger writing for Jim Morrison. I’m like, ‘Okay, I knew it was like the ocean and the moon,’ it was just tailoring it. These were Carlos-isms.”
Talking to PEOPLE in 2019, Santana reflected on making the song, the final track recorded for his 1999 album, Supernatural.
“We had already finished just about everything and Clive calls and said, ‘I got one more song, just one more song.’ I’m like, ‘Clive, I think we have enough.’ He said, ‘Let me send it to you,’” the iconic guitarist, 79, recalled. “So he sent me the demo. I said, ‘It sounds like this, it sounds like that,’ and he says, ‘Carlos, this is what I do. Trust me, you need the song.’ I said, ‘But it feels weak in certain places.’ He goes, ‘I’ll tell you what, why don’t you guys record it at the same time in the studio?’ ”
They ended up recording the song at Fantasy Records in Berkeley in one take.
“I was in the middle of the take, and something told me, ‘Oh my God, this is really, really different.’ It seemed like it just opened up a faucet and water was flowing. It was very, very low effort,” he remembered. “It felt like it was just a flow of grace. We were looking at each other, just smiling, I tell you no lie. It was absolutely one take and when we finished, we knew we didn’t have to do it again. It was like, ‘This is it.’ “
Still, Santana admitted only Davis knew it would become a worldwide smash hit.
“As soon as I do something, I back away from it. It’s kind of like cooking a delicious meal. All the ingredients, everything’s there, and I just back away and watch the audience,” he shared. “I hope they’re hungry, and they were. But I don’t think like this and this is going to do that. I just present it, offer it, and let the results come from another place, by grace.”
“Smooth” went on to spend 12 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won three Grammy Awards.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
