Benjamin Gibbard (born August 11, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums, and as a member of the indie pop band The Postal Service. Gibbard released his debut solo album, Former Lives, in 2012, and a collaborative studio album, One Fast Move or I'm Gone (2009) with Jay Farrar.
Gibbard was born to Allen and Margaret (née Flach) Gibbard in Bremerton, Washington. His father was in the Navy and his family moved around the country, including spending time in Northern Virginia before returning to Washington. Gibbard spent his early life there during the grunge music explosion of the early 1990s. He graduated from Olympic High School in Bremerton in 1994, and studied environmental chemistry at Western Washington University. He was raised Catholic and in 2007 referred to himself as an "indoctrinated Catholic even though I haven't been to church of my own volition in 10 or 15 years now."
In 1996, while playing guitar in the band Pinwheel, Gibbard recorded a demo cassette under the moniker Death Cab for Cutie, titled You Can Play These Songs with Chords (1997). After receiving a positive response to the material, Gibbard expanded the project into a full band, with the addition of guitarist Chris Walla, bassist Nick Harmer and drummer Nathan Good. The following year, the band released its debut album, Something About Airplanes (1998), on Barsuk Records, and released its follow-up, We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, in 2000.

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