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“‘All Night Days’ was my youth back when you could stay up all night,� Thomas says. “Those were my all-night days.�

Thomas is bringing songs from his new album and classics from his days as lead singer of alt-pop act Matchbox Twenty when he performs at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater on Aug. 26. He’ll release his sixth solo studio album a week later on Sept. 5.

Following a support set from Grammy Award-winning pop duo Great Big World, fans should expect to see a lot of love on stage.

“By the end of the show, everybody feels that connection,� he says. “Because our brand is love, and our brand is joy.�

Thomas has performed with the majority of his touring band members throughout his 20-year solo career. When they’re not on the road, the musicians play with other bands, serve as Alicia Keys’ music director and more.

“These are top-notch players, and we just have this family,� he says. “I think that kind of shows on stage.�

Joining him is his son, Maison Thomas Eudy, 27. The young guitarist has been on the road with his father since the tour started on Aug. 18. Thomas says Eudy is dedicated to his music. He plays in the band the Lucky and produces content to drive social media engagement. But Eudy is more focused on just becoming a great guitar player.

“He cares so much about the craft of what he’s doing and just realizes that all that other stuff is a necessary evil today,� he says.

Like his son, Thomas began developing his craft as a singer and songwriter at a young age. Music was therapy, and lyric-filled notebooks became vessels that decoded his feelings. These emotions flowed out in his songs that rock band Matchbox Twenty introduced to the mainstream in the mid-1990s.

The band’s vulnerable, heartfelt lyricism, blended with pop-grunge melodies and rock ’n’ roll riffs, led to music superstardom. “Yourself or Someone Like You,� the group’s 1996 debut album, was certified 12 times platinum, setting off a domino effect of multiplatinum albums and chart-topping singles in the early 2000s.

As the band nears the 30th anniversary of its debut album, Thomas says he knows there was a thin line between stardom and never reaching his dreams. He says he knows amazing musicians who never made it big.

“It was a very thin, sliding door that could have been me in my mid-50s, talking about the time that I had a band and tried to make it, but it didn’t work out,� he says.

Things did work out for Thomas, both as a lead singer and as a solo act. After writing Matchbox Twenty hits like “3 AM,� and “How Far We’ve Come� and snagging three Grammys for the song “Smooth� with Carlos Santana, Thomas ventured off on his own in 2005 as an outlet for more melodic, pop-forward records that weren’t a good fit for the band. Lyrics from songs like “Lonely No More� and “Her Diamonds� continued to remind listeners worldwide that they weren’t alone as they navigated life’s obstacles.

But Thomas never left Matchbox Twenty. The band — which consists of Thomas, bassist Brian Yale, drummer Paul Doucette and guitarist Kyle Cook — never broke up despite each member evolving as musicians and songwriters. They released their sixth studio album, “Where the Light Goes,� in 2023, and Thomas says they remain best friends.

“We’ve never been closer than we are right now,� he says.

Being close to friends and family is Thomas’ favorite pastime when he’s not working on music. Group dinners and attending concerts and plays with loved ones are his primary hobbies.

Otherwise, it’s writing that he enjoys most when he’s not working.

“I wish I liked canoeing or something, but I don’t,� he says. “I love writing, and that’s what I do when I have the downtime.�

Known for his song lyrics that have generated a legion of fans, Thomas is still finding inspiration through his real-life experiences. “Thrill,� the first single from his upcoming album, is about how he’s still amazed by his wife after being together 27 years. He wrote his latest single, “Hard to Be Happy,� back in 2020 after realizing he wrote a lot of “sad songs.� The upbeat track explores accepting life’s highs and lows.

“We live in this time now, thankfully, where it’s OK to not be OK,� he says. “It’s OK to talk about not being OK. I think through that process, it’s more likely to make it a temporary state.�

Thomas has never been afraid to share his life experiences, the good and the painful, through his songs. He aims to write about how those moments make him feel because he knows those feelings are universal.

He plans to revisit those feelings when he hits the stage in St. Louis and serenades the crowd with 30 years of music.

“It’s a gift to know that somewhere out there, whatever music means to me, there are people that my music means that to them,� he says.