Starting as the brainchild of North Carolina drifter Ben Folds, 1990s alternative rock band Ben Folds Five created self-proclaimed "punk rock for sissies," a trio consisting of a piano player, a bass player and a drummer. With no guitar to form the standard rock band, Ben Folds Five used their creativity to release catchy and pop-induced rock songs that became wildly popular in the U.S. during the ‘90s.Ben Folds Five started as the dream of Ben Folds, the son of a carpenter who rummaged through Miami, Chapel Hill, New York, Nashville and Europe before finally establishing a band in Chapel Hill in 1994. Along with bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee, Ben Folds took the idea of a piano-based rock band and began recording the songs that would soon make history. Ben Folds Five's 1995 eponymous debut album scored them a record deal with Sony, and their next album Whatever and Ever Amen was released in 1997 with the instant hits "Brick" and "Battle of Who Could Care Less," both of which helped launch the fun-loving band into full-fledged fame among piano greats like Billy Joel and Joe Jackson.Fighting to maintain individuality in this important era of piano rock, Ben Folds Five persevered with cameos on soundtracks and several live performances which they compiled into their 1998 release entitled Naked Baby Photos because the album highlights the band's stages of development. The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, Ben Folds Five's 1999 release, was the last for the trio as a whole, as the group announced their shocking split a year later. Each third of the trio went on to pursue his own career, from Sledge's creation of a band to Jessee's entertainment gigs in New York City to Folds' own solo career, arguably the most popular of the three.