NEED TO KNOW
Rob Thomas had a missed opportunity with Alyssa Milano.
The Matchbox Twenty frontman, 53, was performing at at SiriusXM and Pandora Present PopRocks The Holidays at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Tuesday, Dec. 9 when he recalled a time when he “blew” his chance with the Charmed actress, now 52.
Thomas told the crowd that Matchbox Twenty was turning 30 years old soon, and noted that there’s a 10-year period of their tenure that he doesn’t “remember.”
That’s when he brought up Milano and recalled that many years before, he was performing at the same venue where where their near-connection almost occurred.
The “Lonely” performer — who has been married to wife Marisol Maldondo for 26 years — pointed to the balcony of the venue where he recalled trying to unsuccessfully woo Milano.
“I blew my chance with Alyssa Milano,” Thomas told the crowd. “We’ll never know, will we?”
SiriusXM and Pandora
Thomas had previously revealed Milano was his childhood crush during an interview with the Associated Press in 2019.
PEOPLE has reached out to Milano for comment.
The “Smooth” hitmaker also launched into an impassioned speech about joy before performing his 2007 song “Little Wonders.”
“Happiness will meet you if you meet it halfway. If you show up to the party, happiness will have a drink in its hand,” Thomas told the audience.
He noted that “Little Wonders” is a song about realizing those moments are open to you every day.
Thomas and Maldondo, 54, have been married since 1999.
“I knew the second I kissed her that I would never, ever kiss another person,” the “Push” artist told PEOPLE in a 2000 interview.
He also opened up about their relationship in a 2016 interview with Yahoo.
“We pat ourselves on the back every anniversary, but at the same time when we got married the idea was that we were going to be married as long as we’re alive, so we don’t want to make too big a deal out of it. We were always headed this way, so it’s just about continuing that promise,” said Thomas.
Thomas performed alongside Lisa Loeb and the Goo Goo Dolls at SiriusXM and Pandora Present PopRocks The Holidays in New York City.
