Ben Gibbard

American singer and song-writer Ben Gibbard was born in Bremerton, Washington. His father was in the Navy so Gibbard moved around the United States early in life before settling back in Washington State in time to spend his teen years immersed in the nascent grunge music scene of the Pacific Northwest. He started Death Cab for Cutie initially as a solo project in 1997. The demo tape showed promise and Gibbard gathered Nathan Good, Chris Walla, and Nick Hammer to form the band Death Cab for Cutie. They released their debut album "Something About Airplanes" (1998) the following year. The band would go on to achieve widespread success producing nearly a dozen albums in 25 years. Their fourth studio album, "Transatlanticism" (2003) brought them mainstream attention with songs being featured on soundtracks of several television shows such as "Six Feet Under" (HBO, 2001-05) and movies like "The Wedding Crashers" (2005). In addition to Death Cab for Cutie, Gibbard collaborated with Jenny Lewis and Jimmy Tamborello under the band name The Postal Service and released the certified platinum album "Give Up" (2003). Death Cab for Cutie's fifth album, "Plans" (2005) featured the group's most financially successful single, "I Will Follow You into the Dark". The band's sixth album, "Narrow Stairs" (2008) was their first album to reach the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart.