Benji Madden was born Benjamin Levi Combs on March 11, 1979, in Waldorf, Maryland, to Robin Marie Madden and Roger Paul Combs. His father left the family when he was 16, so he changed his last name from "Combs" to his mother's maiden name. After his father left, Benji's mother raised him and his three siblings alone. Obviously that caused a lot of financial problems leading to the eviction from their home. Benji first started playing the guitar at 16. Before that, though, he and his younger twin brother went to a Beastie Boys concert and decided that they wanted to start a band. When they graduated in 1997, his mother gave him and Joel a pair of airline tickets to California to go to a club where all the good punk rock bands actually started. When they got back, they were more determined than ever. They teamed up with two school friends and Billy - and Good Charlotte was born.