Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer and record producer. Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five from 1993 to 2000, and again in the early 2010s during their reunion. Apart from the band, Folds has recorded several albums and performed live as a solo artist. 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 cappella groups. In addition to contributing music to the soundtracks of the animated films Hoodwinked!, and Over the Hedge, 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.