Ben Folds Five

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Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States (1994 – 2000, 2011 – present)

Ben Folds Five is a trio formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States in 1994, who until their breakup in 2000 were a mainstay of piano rock. Much of their work was influenced by jazz, evident in frequent improv-styled passages through bridge and/or ending.

The members of the band are Ben Folds, the lead singer and pianist, who also wrote most of the songs; Robert Sledge on bass; and Darren Jessee on drums. The group enjoyed the success of the single Brick in 1997, a ballad written by Folds (with a chorus by Jessee) about his high school girlfriend getting an abortion. This song has, to a large degree, misrepresented the band to fans who aren’t familiar with their other work; “Brick” is a serious ballad, whereas most of their music is characterised by jazz inflections and witty, humorous lyrics.

After the band’s not-so amicable breakup in October 2000 over Ben’s over shadowing of Sledge and Jessee, Folds began a solo career. Robert Sledge’s subsequent band International Orange has broken up, while Darren Jessee is the frontman for the band Hotel Lights.

Folds once described their music as “punk rock for pussies” - a reaction to the angst prevalent in 90s rock. When asked about his band’s name he jokingly responded “you mean a trio isn’t five?”. In other interviews the band said that the name was simply because Ben Folds Five sounded better than Ben Folds Three.

Ben Folds has continued with producing music on his own, striking a subtler tone than Ben Folds Five’s earlier recordings.

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Popular tags: alternative, indie, rock, piano rock, piano  See more

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