Ben Folds

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Folds (2004)

Benjamin "Ben" Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966 in Chapel Hill , North Carolina ) is an American singer and pianist , who became known as the founder of the band Ben Folds Five .

Career

He has released a number of solo albums. The first, Fear of Pop , was created while his then band Ben Folds Five was still in existence and contains experimental pieces that stand in the way of the trio's more straightforward piano rock. In 2001 he released his acclaimed solo debut Rockin 'the Suburbs , on which Ben Folds played most of the instruments himself. The single of the same name was even an electric guitar, which is rather atypical in the Folds cosmos. In 2002 the live album Ben Folds was released , which Folds presented alone on the piano and without a band. A special edition was also delivered with a DVD on which some pieces as well as the photo session for the album cover are documented.

The album Songs for Silverman was recorded again in a three-band line-up and released in 2005. Fold's colleagues were now Jared Reynolds on bass and Lindsay Jamieson on drums, with whom he also went on tour. The album was significantly calmer and more thoughtful than the artist's previous work. Folds was an admirer of the late Elliott Smith . The farewell song Late on the album is dedicated to him.

In 2006 the album supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp was released , which mostly consists of material from three EPs from 2003 and 2004 (see below). The artist presented some cover songs, but also his own compositions such as All you can eat , There is always someone cooler than you or Learn to live with what you are . Emphasis is also Bitches is not shit , which originally performed by Dr. Dre comes from and became a crowd-pleaser on tour.

On September 30, 2008, Ben Folds released his third solo album entitled Way to normal . In the songs, Folds processed his divorce as well. The first single You don't know me was sung by Ben Folds in a duet with Regina Spektor .

In 2009, Folds publicly invited student singing groups from all over America to apply for the release of an album with a cappella versions of his pieces. The album Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella was released in December 2009 and presents the 14 winners as well as two self-arranged a cappella songs. From 2009 to 2013, Ben Folds was a member of the jury for The Sing-Off , an NBC- produced talent show for a cappella groups.

Ben Folds went on tour with Tori Amos and under the name The Bens with his two namesakes Ben Lee and Ben Kweller ; in this formation an EP of the same name was created. In November 2004 a tour through Germany was canceled due to illness. It was made up for in the summer of 2005 with two concerts in Berlin and Cologne . In February 2007 he played four concerts in Germany, in Munich, Hamburg, Berlin and Cologne. In 2008 he visited Hamburg, Bochum, Mannheim and Essen as part of an intimate club tour. Then he played at the Rheinkultur Festival in Bonn.

Ben Folds has contributed several titles to film soundtracks. These include Lonely Christmas Eve for the film The Grinch (2000), a remake of The Beatles' Golden Slumbers for the film I am Sam (2001), Air for Godzilla (1998, with Ben Folds Five) and several pieces from the soundtrack for Ab the hedge (2006). For the film Hoodwinked (2005) he contributed a song called Red is Blue .

William Shatner's album Has Been (2004) was produced by Folds and arranged, as well as the album Who Killed Amanda Palmer by Amanda Palmer (2008).

In March 2010, Folds put some videos on the video platform YouTube in which he contacted strangers with a piano and an enthusiastic audience via the Chatroulette website . This was intended as a tribute to the Merton YouTube phenomenon . Despite speculation, Merton and Folds are not the same person. In September of the same year, Ben Folds released the album Lonely Avenue . Folds then wrote the music to texts by the writer Nick Hornby . Hornby wrote these specifically for this album.

In 2011, Folds worked with his former bandmates Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee for the first time in over ten years as part of his best-of album. While working on a new track, the idea came up to record a new, full album as Ben Folds Five. The crowdfunded album The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind was finally released in 2012 and a tour followed.

After touring with Ben Folds Five, Folds began working on his first classical piano concerto. The Piano Concerto premiered on March 13, 2014 with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Ben Folds on grand piano in Nashville. A studio recording was released in 2015 on the album "So There". The rest of the album consists of songs that Folds developed and recorded together with the classic sextet yMusic.

In 2017, Folds was officially named "Artistic Advisor" to the National Symphony Orchestra .

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
2001 Rockin 'the Suburbs - - - UK73 (1 week)
UK 		US42 (6 weeks)
US
First published: September 11, 2001
2005 Songs for Silverman DE84 (1 week)
DE 		- - UK65 (4 weeks)
UK 		US13 (9 weeks)
US
First published: April 11, 2005
2008 Way to normal - - - UK70 (1 week)
UK 		US11 (5 weeks)
US
First published: September 17, 2008
2010 Lonely Avenue DE95 (1 week)
DE 		- - UK89 (1 week)
UK 		US36 (3 weeks)
US
First published: September 24, 2010
with Nick Hornby
2015 So there - - - UK63 (1 week)
UK 		US44 (1 week)
US
First release: September 11th, 2015
with yMusic

Live albums & compilations

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
2002 live - - - - US60 (3 weeks)
US
First release: October 8th, 2002
live album
2006 Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the LP - - - - US114 (1 week)
US
First published: October 24, 2006
compilation
2009 Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! - - - - US94 (1 week)
US
First published: April 28, 2009
compilation
2011 The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective - - - UK100 (1 week)
UK 		US62 (1 week)
US
First published: October 11, 2011
compilation

more publishments

  • 1998: Fear of Pop: Volume 1
  • 2003: Speed ​​Graphic (EP)
  • 2003: Sunny 16 (EP)
  • 2004: Super D (EP)
  • 2005: Songs for Goldfish
  • 2005: Live in Perth (DVD)
  • 2007: Live at Myspace (DVD)

Singles (selection)

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
2001 Rockin 'the Suburbs
Rockin' the Suburbs 		- - - UK53 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: April 2001
2005 Landed
Songs for Silverman 		- - - - US77 (2 weeks)
US
First published: February 2005
Bitches Ain't Shit
Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the LP 		- - - - US71 (1 week)
US
First published: March 2005

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/03/17/chatroulette-ben-folds/
  2. ↑ http://mashable.com/2010/10/07/merton-ben-folds/
  3. ↑ Ben Folds. Retrieved May 11, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c Chart sources: DE UK US

Web links

Commons : Ben Folds  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Folds, Ben
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Folds, Benjamin Scott (full name); Folds, Ben Scott (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Chapel Hill , North Carolina