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Pianist+singer & songwriter Ben Folds was born September 12, 1966,
in Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA; Folds began playing music in high
school, then worked as a percussionist on Nashville sessions for Christian
pop artists, he eventually moved to New York where spent time playing
bass.
After returning back to North Carolina, Folds formed the Pop-Rock outfit
Ben Folds Five in 1994 with bass player Robert Sledge and drummer Darren
Jessee; the group's self-titled debut came out in the summer of 1995 on
a local indie-label; the record quickly caught the attention of critics
receiving airplay on Alternative-Rock radio stations.
In March 1997 the critically acclaimed trio released "Whatever And
Ever Amen" after signing for Epic Records; the major-label debut
reached the #42 on The Billboard 200 Albums chart while the single "Brick"
hit #6 on Modern Rock Tracks list; "Song For The Dumped" and
"Battle Of Who Could Care Less" reached respectively #23 and
#22 in the same chart; the band supported the album by opening for Dave
Matthews Band and Beck.
During the year 1998 the band released the independent 16-song collection
of live and early material titled "Naked Baby Photos", the compilation
cracked the top 100 of the U.S. Official Albums chart; Ben Folds also
recorded an album with Caleb Southern and John Marc Painter as Fear Of
Pop, but the record, simply titled "Volume 1", failed to attract
attention.
Ben Folds Five, got back together the following year and in April was
released "The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner"; their
third album of new material hit #35 on The Billboard Top 200 chart and
the single "Army" peaked at #17 on The Modern Rock chart.
By late October of 2000 the three members of Ben Folds Five announced
they were breaking up.
Ben Folds continued as a one-man act and in September of 2001 delivered
his debut solo effort, "Rockin' The Suburbs", this album debuted
at #42 on The Billboard 200 chart and the title-track made top 30 on Modern
Rock chart.
Almost exactly a year later the artist released "Ben Folds Live",
a collection of his songs as well as a Ben Folds Five's hits, that captured
him in a stunning live performance; the set reached the #60 slot in U.S.
Top 200 Albums chart.
In spring 2005 Ben Folds resurfaced with his first full-length disc in
over three years, "Songs For Silverman", it included the single
"Landed".
Ben Folds biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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