"American Idol" still hasn't named a replacement for Simon Cowell, but wouldn't Ben Folds make for a great fill-in? As he has proven through over 15 years of music, Folds is both a talented songwriter and articulate in his opinions and judgments. (He was great on the short-lived NBC series "The Sing Off.") Plus, he can be totally angry when he needs to be (just check the awesome, cutting bitterness of some of his solo work). Since it doesn't seem like Folds can get a job on "The Tonight Show," he should totally score the big chair on "Idol."
If nothing else, Folds has certainly created an incredible body of work — a winning streak that began on this day in 1997, when his former band Ben Folds Five released Whatever and Ever Amen. Initially absorbed as a group that was heavy on quirk (they jettisoned guitars in favor of Folds' grand piano, they only had three members and Folds wrote choruses like "Give me my money back/ Give me my money back, you b----"), the world quickly got to know Folds' brilliance when the ballad "Brick" became a monster hit. It was awfully heavy material for a pop hit, as the narrative of the song sees Folds taking his girlfriend to get an abortion on the day after Christmas (which, according to Folds, is based on an actual experience he had in high school). It's a moving tune that elevated the Ben Folds Five from underground sensation to mainstream powerhouse.
They didn't let fame get to them, as the follow-up album was the complicated concept album The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. After the band broke up, Folds embarked on a successful solo career, nailing hits like "Rockin' the Suburbs" and "Landed." Though he has written a huge number of excellent songs over the course of his career (including the devastating "Fred Jones Pt. 2" and the sweet "Give Judy My Notice"), his signature remains "Brick." There are far worse legacies.