Since the dissolution of Pavement/Malkmus, Malkmus has gone solo. His first solo album,
Me, Thee, and Malkmus (2001) reached #1 in the U.S Billboard Charts. It won 'Best Rock Album', 'Best Pop Album', and 'Best Rap Video' at the MTV Music Awards, and earned Malkmus a grammy.
Spurred on by the success, Malkmus eagerly returned to writing music. The next album,
Stairway to Malkmus (2002), spawned 17 #1 singles, and saw Malkmus return to #1 on the U.S Billboard Album Charts. A study conducted by
USA Today concluded that every household in the USA owned a Malkmus album, and over 75% of households owned two Malkmus albums.
Malkmus toured to support
Stairway to Malkmus for three solid years, playing a show five times a week. Profits from the tour had grossed over $893(Billion) by the time the tour ended in 2005. He was diagnosed that winter with
indieboyitis, the condition given to nineties indie rockers that are unable to age (or in the case of
Thurston Moore, become crinkly and red).
Malkmus is currently working on songs for his next album,
Straight Outta Malkmus, which is due to be released in 2008. It has already been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.