Ben Folds

Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. From 1993 to 2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. Since the band disbanded, Folds has recorded several albums and performed live as a solo artist, with the exception of a brief Ben Folds Five reunion in 2011 in which they recorded the album The Sound of the Life of the Mind. He has also collaborated with musicians such as William Shatner, Regina Spektor, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and yMusic and undertaken experimental songwriting projects with authors such as Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman. He has frequently performed arrangements of his music with uncommon instrumentation, including symphony orchestras and a capella groups. In addition to contributing music to the soundtracks of the animated films Over the Hedge, and Hoodwinked!, Folds has produced several albums, including Amanda Palmer's first solo album. Folds was a judge on the NBC a cappella singing contest The Sing-Off from 2009 to 2013. Since May 2017, he has been serving as the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In July 2019, Folds published his first book, a memoir, titled A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons.