Ben Folds Five was an American alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprised Ben Folds, Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee. The group achieved success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes. Their single "Brick" from the second album, Whatever and Ever Amen (1997), gained airplay on many mainstream radio stations.
Benjamin Scott Folds is an American singer-songwriter from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After playing in several small independent bands throughout the late 80s and into the early 90s, Folds came to prominence as the eponymous frontman and pianist of the alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five from 1993 to 2000, and again during their reunion from 2011 to 2013. He has recorded a number of solo albums – the most recent of which, What Matters Most, was released in June 2023. He has also collaborated with musicians such as Regina Spektor, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and yMusic, and undertaken experimental songwriting projects with actor William Shatner and authors such as Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman. Since May 2017, he has been the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Whatever and Ever Amen is the second album by Ben Folds Five, released on March 18, 1997. Three singles were released from the album, including the lead single, "Battle of Who Could Care Less", which received significant airplay on alternative radio and on MTV, and peaked at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart and number 22 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, and the band's biggest hit, "Brick", which was a top-40 song in numerous countries.
Has Been is William Shatner's second musical album after 1968's The Transformed Man, released in 2004. The album was produced and arranged by Ben Folds and most of the songs are co-written by Folds and Shatner, with Folds creating arrangements for Shatner's prose-poems. The album features guest appearances from Joe Jackson, Folds and Aimee Mann, Lemon Jelly, Henry Rollins, Adrian Belew, and Brad Paisley.
Ben Folds Five is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Ben Folds Five, released on August 8, 1995. A non-traditional rock album, it featured a sound that excluded lead guitars completely. The album was released on the small independent label Passenger Records, owned by Caroline Records, a subsidiary of Virgin/EMI. Ben Folds Five received positive reviews, and spawned five singles. The record failed to chart, but sparked an intense bidding war eventually won by Sony Music. Several live versions of songs originally released on Ben Folds Five reappeared later as b-sides or on compilations.
The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner is the third studio album by Ben Folds Five, released on April 27, 1999. Produced by the band's usual collaborator, Caleb Southern, it represented a departure for the band from their usual pop-rock sound to material influenced by classical and chamber music, with darker, introspective lyrics on subjects such as regret, death, and loss of innocence. The band broke up shortly after the touring period of the album, and as a result the record was considered the final release from the trio until they reunited in 2011 and released The Sound of the Life of the Mind the following year.
Naked Baby Photos is a compilation album comprising outtake material from recordings of Ben Folds Five's first two studio albums and live performances. Most of the tracks are previously unreleased rarities.
Majosha was an American alternative rock band formed around early 1988 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It featured Ben Folds on bass and keyboards, Millard Powers on guitar, Evan Olson on guitar, and Eddie Walker on drums. They released a self-produced EP, Party Night: Five Songs About Jesus in 1988, which contained four tracks, none of which were about Jesus. After gaining popularity, they released their first and only studio album, Shut Up and Listen to Majosha in 1989. The band disbanded in early 1990 and the members went on to pursue other projects.
Volume 1 is the name of the first album by the experimental band Fear of Pop. The album was a project of Ben Folds, John Mark Painter, Fleming McWilliams, and others. It was released on November 17, 1998 on 550 Records.
Songs for Silverman is the second studio album by Ben Folds, released in April 2005 by Epic Records. The album reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200, making it Folds' highest-charting album until the release of Way to Normal in 2008.
"Brick" is a song by American alternative rock group Ben Folds Five. It was released in November 1997 as a single from their album Whatever and Ever Amen and later on Ben Folds Live. The verses were written by Ben Folds about his high school girlfriend getting an abortion, and the chorus was written by the band's drummer, Darren Jessee. "Brick" was one of Ben Folds Five's biggest hits, gaining much mainstream radio play in the US, the UK, and Australia.
"Rockin' the Suburbs" is a song by Ben Folds from the album of the same name.
Animosity is the third studio album by American rock band Sevendust, released on November 13, 2001, through TVT Records. The album appeared on the Billboard 200, remained there for thirteen weeks and peaked at 28 on December 1, 2001. It was certified gold on March 11, 2002 by the Recording Industry Association of America.
July For Kings, or "JFK", is an American, Cincinnati, Ohio-based alternative rock band, founded by Joe Hedges, Sam Dobrozsi (drums), Travis Delaney (guitar), Jason Morgan (bass), and T Miller. The band was founded Middletown, Ohio, in 1997. After several line-up changes that included the departure of two founding members, frontman Joe Hedges dropped the July For Kings name in April 2006, choosing to release the next album, Curvature, using his own moniker. In October 2007, Joe Hedges announced that July For Kings had reunited and that they were working on a new album. On June 23, 2009, July For Kings released the studio album entitled Monochrome. and on July 14, 2015, July For Kings released the album Middletown.
"Where's Summer B.?" is a song from Ben Folds Five's 1995 first album, Ben Folds Five. It was written by Ben Folds and Darren Jessee. The song, though up-tempo, deals with the disappointment of returning to a hometown after being away and seeing things much the same as before.
Ben Folds Five – The Complete Sessions at West 54th, also referred to as Ben Folds Five – Live at Sessions at West 54th, is a DVD containing musical performances by Ben Folds Five. On June 9, 1997 Ben Folds Five was one of the first guests to appear on a new series called Sessions at West 54th. Because of the 1/2 hour time constraint of the show, only a handful of the recorded tracks made it to air. The DVD contains the entire performance which, for the most part, includes tracks from their just released album, Whatever and Ever Amen.
"Sports & Wine" is a song from Ben Folds Five's 1995 self-titled debut album. It was written by Ben Folds. The song is a snide dismissal of a "man's man" who attempts to put up the pretense of being sensitive so that he can appeal more to the opposite sex.
"Uncle Walter" is a song from Ben Folds Five's 1995 self-titled debut album. It was written by lead singer Ben Folds.
The Sound of the Life of the Mind is the fourth and final studio album by Ben Folds Five, released on September 18, 2012. It is the group's first release since 1999's The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner.
"Do It Anyway" is an alternative rock song by the band Ben Folds Five, from their 2012 album The Sound of the Life of the Mind. It was the first song released by the band in over a decade.
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