Ben Folds Five

Ben Folds Five are...

• Ben Folds - vocals, keyboards
• Robert Sledge - bass
• Darren Jesse - drums

Ben Folds Five, formed in North Carolina and initially consisted of, surprisingly enough, 5 people - who, for some reason, agreed to name the band after ‘leader’; Ben Folds. Sometime later two members left, leaving the Ben Folds Five with a line-up limited to three - Folds, bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee.

And so, Ben Folds Five attacked the musical world, minus a lead guitarist with their unique, off-beat indie style Ben Folds Five album in 1995. This was later followed by the highly acclaimed Whatever and Ever Amen (1997), plus various other unreleased and live material, and a few collaborations just to emphasise their success.

1999 saw the group release their final effort as a threesome – The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner - which failed miserably to match the world-wide success of any of the previous releases. By the end of the year, Ben Folds Five had become simply Ben Folds, a solo artist who is currently working to re-build his once reputable band.