Ben Folds

As the leader and main songwriter behind Ben Folds Five, Ben Folds made a name for himself in the mid to late 1990s as the post-grunge era's piano man. After the group disbanded in 2000, Folds released his solo debut, Rockin' The Suburbs, in 2001. Continuing in a vein similar to his work with the trio, Folds excels at writing smart, slightly ironic pop songs with a love of melody, conjuring up memories of peak period Joe Jackson or even Todd Rundgren's less progressive pop moments. That Folds manages to sell truckloads of records without even touching a guitar might be his most remarkable achievement.