Ben Folds Five

Ben Folds Five is an American piano-rock trio formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1993, made up of pianist and singer Ben Folds, bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee. Unusually for a 1990s alternative act, the group had no guitarist, building its sound instead around Folds's aggressive, percussive piano playing, Sledge's distorted bass and tight three-part harmonies. The result set them apart from grunge and post-grunge contemporaries and drew frequent comparisons to Billy Joel filtered through punk energy and sardonic, confessional lyrics.

The band released three albums in five years: their self-titled 1995 debut, the breakout Whatever and Ever Amen (1997), home to the hit «Brick» and fan favorites «Song for the Dumped» and «Battle of Who Could Care Less», and the more ambitious The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner (1999). They split in 2000, after which Folds pursued a successful solo career while remaining the band's most visible member; the trio later reunited for the 2012 album The Sound of the Life of the Mind.

Ben Folds Five is remembered as a key act of the mid-90s alternative-piano-rock niche, admired for its musicianship, dark humor and emotional range, influencing a generation of piano-driven singer-songwriters.