Benji Madden

Benjamin Levi Madden (born March 11, 1979) is the guitarist and backup vocalist of the band Good Charlotte.

Early Life

Madden was born a middle class Irish-American family. He has an identical twin brother, Joel Madden, who sing lead in Good Charlotte. He has an older brother named Josh, and a younger sister named Sarah. Madden attended La Plata High School in La Plata, Maryland. When Madden was 16 years old his father left the family, causing financial hardship for the family. Madden took up various odd jobs as a teenager to help with the family's bills. While in his early 20s Madden changed his last name from Combs, his father's name, to his mother's maiden name, Madden.^[2]

Good Charlotte

In 1995, at the age of 16, Madden attended the Beastie Boys Ill Communication Tour with his brother Joel. Drawing from music introduced to them by their older brother Josh, such as Rancid and Social Distortion, as well as the influence of the Beastie Boys concert, the two started their own band with a friend. The band was short lived and the Maddens eventually recruited fellow high schoolers Paul Thomas and Aaron Escolopio to form Good Charlotte.^[3]

Personal life

He has been engaged to Australian actress/singer Sophie Monk since December '06. ^[4]

He currently resides in Glendale, California.

Other appearances

Goldfinger's, "January", from the Open Your Eyes album.
Rancid's, "Fall Back Down", music video.
Mest's, "Jaded (These Years)", from the Mest album.
Ben Lee's, "Sex Without Love", from the Ripe album.

External links

References

^ "Good Charlotte Biography". allmusic.com. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ Hoard, Christian (April 9, 2003), "Young, Hopeless, Rich, and Famous", Rolling Stone{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^ "Good Charlotte Biography". allmusic.com. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ "Benji Madden, Sophie Monk Engaged". people.com. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[1] "Good Charlotte Biography". allmusic.com. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[2] Hoard, Christian (April 9, 2003), "Young, Hopeless, Rich, and Famous", Rolling Stone{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

[3] "Good Charlotte Biography". allmusic.com. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[4] "Benji Madden, Sophie Monk Engaged". people.com. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[2]

[3]

[4]