- Born
- Birth nameBenjamin Scott Folds
- Height5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
- Ben Folds is widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of our generation.
He's created an enormous body of genre-bending music that includes pop albums with Ben Folds Five, multiple solo albums, and collaborative records with artists from Sara Bareilles and Regina Spektor, to William Shatner. His last album was a blend of pop songs and his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra that soared to #1 on both the Billboard classical and classical crossover charts.
For over a decade he's performed with some of the world's greatest symphony orchestras, and in 2017 was named as the first ever Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center.
Folds continues to perform with symphonies and also recently returned to solo touring around the globe reminiscent of his earliest years, delivering a high energy rock performance using the intimacy of just a piano.
He is also no stranger to television, having been featured for five seasons as a judge on NBC's critically-acclaimed a capella show "The Sing Off." He continues to appear in cameo roles on cable and network TV shows from "Billions," to "You're The Worst" and "Community," and recently composed the soundtrack for the Netflix show "Handsome."
An avid photographer, Folds is a member of the prestigious Sony Artisans of Imagery, completed an assignment in 2017 as a photo editor for National Geographic, and was recently featured in a mini-documentary by the Kennedy Center's Digital Project on his photographic work.
An outspoken champion for arts education and music therapy funding in our nation's public schools, in 2016 Ben held the distinction as the only artist to appear at both national political conventions advocating for arts education, and has served for over five years as an active member of the distinguished Artist Committee of Americans For The Arts.
- IMDb mini biography by: Mike Kopp
- SpousesEmma Sandall(January 20, 2017 - February 27, 2024) (divorced)Fleur Stanbrook(November 15, 2007 - 2011) (divorced)Frally Hynes(May 20, 1999 - April 2007) (divorced, 2 children)Kate Rosen(December 14, 1996 - December 1997) (divorced)Anna Goodman(1987 - 1992) (divorced)
- Piano Rock
- Thick plastic black rimmed glasses
- Is one of the top selling artists in America, Australia, and Japan, despite little-to-no radio airplay.
- His debut solo album, Rockin' The Suburbs, was released on September 11, 2001.
- Former singer/pianist for Ben Folds Five.
- His twin children are a boy and girl named Louis Frances and Gracie Scott
- Collaborated with Ben Lee and Ben Kweller as "The Bens" to produce the four songs: "Just Pretend," "XFire," "Stop!," and "Bruised".
- People ask me what this song's about... I was asked about it a lot, and I didn't really wanna make a big hairy deal out of it, because I just wanted the song to speak for itself. But the song is about when I was in high school, me and my girlfriend had to get an abortion, and it was a very sad thing. And, I didn't really want to write this song from any kind of political standpoint, or make a statement. I just wanted to reflect what it feels like. So, anyone who's gone through that before, then you'll know what the song's about. - Explanation of the song "Brick", 1997.
- The reason I stop playing songs is usually because I get sick of them, and then they find themselves back into the set list at some point.
- I'm older than I was, and I'm still washed-up, and I haven't changed my music one iota. It's just much easier to do this when people are being nice to you.
- There is still some art in pop music. But it can't happen if you're not inspired.
- Now that I have found someone, I'm feeling more alone... than I ever have before.
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