Ben Folds Five

Ben Folds Five (1994 – 2000) was one of the first bands I discovered solely by the world wide web. Without it I would have missed a big impact in my musical taste.

The band members were Ben Folds (vocals, piano), Darren Jessee (drums) and Robert Sledge (bass). Yes That's three. Ben Folds once said they just named them FIVE because it sounds better than THREE.

Discography:

• Ben Folds Five (1995)
• Whatever and Ever Amen (1997)
• Naked Baby Photos (1998, a collection of rare songs)
• The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner (1999) 

After the split Ben Folds started his successful solo career, so did Darren Jessee with Hotel Lights (commercially not as successful as Folds, but musically very nice!).

In 2008 Ben Folds Five made a one-off live show at the UNC Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill. The band played its final album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, in its entirety.
Funny thing: When the Messner album was released, the band members had no idea who Reinhold Messner is, they just thought his name would sound nice for the album title.