[3] Folds went on to pursue a successful solo career, releasing his debut album Rockin' the Suburbs in 2001, followed by Songs for Silverman in 2005, Way to Normal in 2008, and Lonely Avenue in collaboration with novelist Nick Hornby in 2010.

Jessee released three studio albums for Bar/None Records in this time – including Hotel Lights in 2006, Firecracker People in 2008, and Girl Graffiti in 2011.

He later became the bass player in the three-piece Chapel Hill band Surrender Human, with Matt McMichaels from the Mayflies USA.

Ben Folds Five made a one-off concert appearance in September 2008 at the UNC Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill as part of the MySpace "Front to Back" series, in which artists play an entire album live.

The band's fourth studio album, The Sound of the Life of the Mind was released in September 2012, supported by the single Do It Anyway, with a video featuring Anna Kendrick, Rob Corddry, and the cast of Fraggle Rock.

[7] During that year Ben Folds Five toured with the Barenaked Ladies and Guster,[8] before entering a hiatus that ultimately became permanent.

[13] The band briefly reunited for a concert in tribute to Southern on August 28, 2023, at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, performing five songs.