Ben Folds Five Folds

Nov. 1 -- After six years and three albums, the piano-based trio Ben Folds Five has decided to call it a day.

Taking its name from its piano-playing frontman, Ben Folds Five formed in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1994, and released its self-titled debut a year later.

In 1997, its sophomore album,Whatever and Ever Amen, produced the hit single “Brick,” which pushed the band into mainstream consciousness and helped the album earn platinum status. A collection of rarities and B-sides, Naked Baby Photos, and a third studio album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, released in 1999, didn’t fare particularly well commercially. The band last appeared on the Me, Myself, & Irene soundtrack, covering Steely Dan’s “Barrytown.”

Folds, who recently guested on Rickie Lee Jones’ new album, It’s Like This, currently lives in Australia with his wife and a pair of 1-year-old twins. He will next appear, solo, on the soundtrack to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, due in record stores Nov. 7.