Dave Matthews
A visionary songwriter whose improvisational jam-band roots grew into one of the most consistently successful touring acts in American history.
Born 1967 (age 59)·American singer-songwriter·Birthday: January 9·Generation X
Biography
Dave Matthews didn't follow a blueprint; he built a universe. A South African-born bartender in Charlottesville, Virginia, he began hosting weekly jam sessions with a remarkably fluid group of local jazz and folk musicians. This collective, refusing to be pinned down, became the Dave Matthews Band—a genre-defying fusion of acoustic rock, world rhythms, and complex improvisation. Matthews' songwriting was the anchor: his intricate guitar work, vulnerable, conversational vocals, and lyrics that veered from poetic introspection to social commentary. Rejecting major label norms, they built a fanbase the old-fashioned way, through relentless touring and a reputation for never playing a song the same way twice. Their 1994 major-label debut, 'Under the Table and Dreaming,' broke them wide open, but their true legacy is a decades-long, deeply personal relationship with an audience that treats each concert not as a recital, but as a unique event.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Dave was born in 1967, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Dave Was Born
The biggest hits of 1967
#1 Movie
The Jungle Book
Best Picture
In the Heat of the Night
#1 TV Show
The Andy Griffith Show
Dave's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1967Born
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1972Started school
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1980Became a teenager
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1983Could drive
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1985Could vote
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1988Turned 21
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1997Turned 30
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 40
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 50
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 59 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Founded the Dave Matthews Band, which has sold over 38 million albums in the United States alone.
- His band's album 'Crash' spawned the hit single 'Crash into Me,' which became a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Co-founded the environmental charity organization The Bama Works Fund, which has donated tens of millions of dollars.
- The Dave Matthews Band has had seven consecutive studio albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.
Did You Know?
He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and moved to the United States to avoid service in the South African military during apartheid.
He is a trained and accomplished winemaker, owning and operating Blenheim Vineyards in Virginia.
He is left-handed but plays guitar right-handed.
Before music, his jobs included working as a bartender at Miller's, the Charlottesville bar where he first met future band members.
“"I'm not very good at talking about my songs. I just write them and then I sing them."”
