'90s Rockstar Files to Divorce His Fifth Wife

This week, Ben Folds Five frontman and pianist Benjamin Scott Folds filed for divorce from his wife, Australian ballet dancer Emma Sandall, citing irreconcilable differences after six years of marriage.

Folds will have to pay Sandall a lump sum of $475,000 as part of their proposed marital dissolution agreement for any interest she may have in her Nashville home, reports Scoop Nashville. In addition to that, Folds will pay her $650,000 over the course of 24 months ($27,083.33/monthly), pay her car insurance costs for the next year, pay her $50,000 of additional funds for furniture purchases in her new home, and once the divorce has been finalized, Folds will pay her a sum of $210,000 AUD into a National Australian Bank account. 

Since 1987, Folds has been married five times. In a September 2012 article titled "What I know about women," he recounted details of his romantic past to that point. "I always jumped into situations too quickly, thinking that was the right thing," he explained. "I'm reckless, which has helped in my music, but taking risks in my private life hasn't measured up."

Folds married his "oldest friend," Anna Goodman, in 1987, describing her as the person who "inspired me to play music. We met as six-year-olds at elementary school in North Carolina." He noted, "Anna and I felt pressure to do something with our lives. Getting married was the thing you had to do. My mum was barely 20 when she had me – but it's what you did." 

Folds divorced her in 1992, saying, "We had different ideas on how to live as a couple and be engaged in our work. No one ever explained those differences and how to strike a balance." He called Goodman, who has co-written several songs performed by Ben Folds Five, "a dear close friend and always will be." 

He had a short-lived marriage to Kate Rosen in 1996. "Ben Folds Five took off in the mid-'90s; we were constantly on tour," Folds said. "I couldn't be in a stay-at-home relationship. I needed to do my thing. I got married briefly to Kate [Rosen, in 1996]. You could say I was a hopeless romantic."

He entered a relationship with Australian artist Frally Hynes in 1998 and married her from 1999 to 2006. They have twins Gracie and Louie. "I lived in Adelaide during that time and would travel to the US to play gigs to earn money for the family. It was a heavy load, but we were blessed because of the twins," Folds said. 

"I had just made my first solo album and was flying back and forth from the US. I'd be up all night burping one kid while the other was just waking. I was constantly tired. I cut everything out of my schedule I could. I learnt you can't make everyone happy all the time." He filed for divorce in 2006. Folds added, "Frally and the kids moved to Nashville, where I live. She is the best mother those kids could have and we do a great job keeping the family as together as we can." 

He married again in 2007. His fourth marriage was to Fleur Stanbrook, which also ended in divorce in 2011 after four years. 

Folds concluded, "I have actually learnt nothing about women over the years. The key is learning about yourself and why you do what you do. ... That's the thing about a relationship: if you're doing it over and over again and it's not working, you have to look within and ask yourself why," he added. "As much as I love the idea of being married, it's not for me."