| Rob's Perfect Match |
| Rob's Perfect Match |
"I looked out into the audience one night during a show in Montreal and there was this beautiful girl. I couldn't take my eyes off her;" recalls Rob, above centre, who raced into the crowd to catch her as she left. Four months later; that same girl, a shy, blonde, New York schoolteacher named Marisol, is snuggled up backstage with Rob, wearing a diamond engagement ring and preparing for a spring wedding.
"God, she was so gorgeous. I had to coax her backstage and we got engaged two months later;" he grins. "I can't bear to be apart from her and she comes everywhere on the road with me.
'At first with Marisol I was worried about having that extra responsibility in my life, but now I welcome that. It's a good thing for me and allows me to slow down. Previously, I was just floating around, but now I have someone to lean on and someone who leans on me."
It's a major turn around for Rob personally, and also for Matchbox 20, who are described as one of the biggest bands in the world today. It was only a few short years ago that Rob was homeless, with only his rock 'n' roll dreams to keep him going.
That was before the hit singles Push and 3AM propelled his band to the top ofthe charts worldwide. But the pressure of performing a dizzing, 300-plus shows internationally saw Rob craving those empty days when nothing was expected of him. The result was that he buried himself in a world of booze and drugs.
"I was slowly killing myself," he confesses. "Jack Daniels, pot, acid, speed and cocaine. The only thing I didn't try was heroin."
"I don't remember too much about the past couple of years"
Story: Gill Pringle
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