Ben Folds Five
Origin	Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Genre(s)	Piano rock
Years active	1993 - 2000
Label(s)	Passenger Caroline 550
Associated acts	Ben Folds Fear of Pop Hotel Lights International Orange Caleb Southern Fleming and John
Website	benfoldsfive.com
Former members
Ben Folds Robert Sledge Darren Jessee

Ben Folds Five (1993–2000) was a trio formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina who were a mainstay of piano rock until their breakup in 2000. Chapel Hill is a town in Durham and Orange counties in North Carolina and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Piano rock, sometimes referred to as piano pop, is a term for a style of Rock music that is based around the Piano, and sometimes around In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Caroline Records started out as a subsidiary of Richard Branson 's Virgin Records label during the early to mid 1970s 550 Music is a defunct Imprint of Epic Records, a Subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American Singer-songwriter and the former frontman of the Band Ben Folds Five Fear of Pop is the name of an experimental recording project by Ben Folds (of Ben Folds Five) and Caleb Southern (Ben Folds Five's long time producer Hotel Lights is an American indie band founded by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Darren Jessee former drummer for Ben Folds Five. Caleb Southern is an American Musician and Record producer. He has worked with Ben Folds Five, Fear of Pop and Archers of Loaf. Fleming and John is a musical husband and wife team Fleming McWilliams and John Mark Painter, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee, United Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American Singer-songwriter and the former frontman of the Band Ben Folds Five Robert Sledge is a bassist, best known for his work with Ben Folds Five. Darren Jessee (born 8 April 1971, Houston, Texas) was the Drummer for the rock group Ben Folds Five. Chapel Hill is a town in Durham and Orange counties in North Carolina and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States Piano rock, sometimes referred to as piano pop, is a term for a style of Rock music that is based around the Piano, and sometimes around Much of their work was influenced by jazz, evident in frequent improv-styled passages through bridge and/or ending. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Musical Improvisation is the creative activity of immediate Musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental Ben Folds was the lead singer, pianist, and main composer, Robert Sledge played bass, and Darren Jessee played drums and co-wrote some of the songs, most notably the chorus to "Brick". Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American Singer-songwriter and the former frontman of the Band Ben Folds Five Robert Sledge is a bassist, best known for his work with Ben Folds Five. The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the Darren Jessee (born 8 April 1971, Houston, Texas) was the Drummer for the rock group Ben Folds Five. A drum kit (also drum set or trap set) is a collection of Drums Cymbals and sometimes other Percussion instruments such as cowbells Sledge and Jessee also delivered backup vocals.

Contents 1 History 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 Singles 2.3 DVDs 2.4 Others 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

History

Ben Folds Five was formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill by Ben Folds. They were, in fact, a trio in spite of their name, and the primary motivation behind the name, apart from the band's well-known use of humor, was simple preference, according to Ben: "I think it sounds better than Ben Folds Three". ^[1]

Their first radio single was "Underground" from their self-titled debut album, but their biggest success was the single "Brick" from their second album, Whatever and Ever Amen, released in 1997. " Brick " is a song performed by Ben Folds Five released on their 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen and later on Ben Folds Live Whatever and Ever Amen is the second Album by Ben Folds Five, released in 1997

Folds once described their music as "punk rock for sissies", a reaction to the angst prevalent in 90s rock. ^[2]

The group also contributed an unreleased studio song, "Leather Jacket", to the 1999 benefit album, No Boundaries: A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees. No Boundaries A Benefit For The Kosovar Refugees was released on June 15th 1999 by Epic Records featuring a handful of various artists to help raise money for the

After the band's reportedly amicable break-up in October 2000,^[3] Folds began a successful solo career, Robert Sledge took up singing and bass playing duties with International Orange (which broke up in 2005), and Darren Jessee now fronts the band Hotel Lights. Hotel Lights is an American indie band founded by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Darren Jessee former drummer for Ben Folds Five.

According to Australian Radio Host Andy Lee, the band announced its decision to break up after their performance on The Late Show with David Letterman on July 19, 2000. Andrew Thomas "Andy" Lee (born 24 May 1981 is an Australian comedian The Late Show with David Letterman is an Emmy Award -winning American late-night Talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS It was apparently Will Ferrell who broke the awkward silence after the decision was made (Ferrell was a guest on the show that night). John William "Will" Ferrell (ˈfærəl born July 16, 1967) is an American Comedian, Actor, Voice actor,

Discography

Albums

• Ben Folds Five (1995) - Passenger/Caroline Records
• Whatever and Ever Amen (1997, digitally remastered in 2005) - 550
• Naked Baby Photos (1998) - Passenger/Caroline
• The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner (1999) - 550

Singles

• "Underground" (1996) #37 UK
• "Where's Summer, B?" (1996)
• "Battle of Who Could Care Less" (1997) #26 UK
• "Kate" (1997) #39 UK
• "Brick" (1998) #26 UK; #11 US AC, #6 US Modern Rock
• "Song for the Dumped" (1998)
• "Army" (1999) #28 UK
• "Don't Change Your Plans" (1999)

DVDs

• Ben Folds Five - Live at Sessions at West 54th (1999) - Epic Music Video

Others

• Godzilla OST (1998) (Contributed track "Air")

See also

• Ben Folds
• Hotel Lights
• International Orange

References

External links

• Official site
• Official Fan Club Site

---

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org