Joel Madden

Born Joel Reuben Combs in Waldorf, Maryland, his father left on Christmas Eve when Madden was 15 years old. This increased financial problems for the family, causing Madden to take numerous odd jobs to help with the family finances. Madden has a twin brother named Benji (who is older by five minutes), an older brother named Josh, who is a DJ, and a younger sister, Sarah, who sings for the band Her Daily Obsession. He and his twin brother legally changed their last name from Combs, their father's last name, to Madden, their mother's maiden name.

Madden attended La Plata High School in La Plata, Maryland and he is a Roman Catholic.

Although he and his twin brother had no musical experience, they decided to start a band after attending a Beastie Boys concert at the age of 16. Their first, albeit short-lived Band was called The Benji, Joel, and Brian Band, which they started with a friend. Eventually, they recruited their high school friends Aaron Escolopio and Paul Thomas and they formed Good Charlotte.

He cites the bullying by his high school peers as inspiration for much of Good Charlotte's lyrics on their self-titled debut album, Good Charlotte, as well as on their second album, The Young and the Hopeless, especially the song "The Anthem."

Madden and his brother were MTV VJ's for awhile when they co-hosted the late night rock Music countdown show All Things Rock on MTV. Madden also appeared on the practical joke television show Punk'd. The first time was when he and his brother saw his Range Rover had crashed on top of a Volvo while being towed, a prank set up by Ashton Kutcher. The second time was when he pranked Michelle Trachtenberg by being blamed for driving into a parking garage, without knowing a low water pipe was hanging.

Madden and Good Charlotte appear in 2001's Not Another Teen Movie, as the band playing at the school's prom. Madden had a small part in Bill Cosby's Fat Albert, released in 2005. He is also in a Marvin Scott Jarrett-directed rockumentary called Fast Future Generation, about his band being on tour in Japan. Madden, along with his twin brother, was in the 2005 movie Material Girls, starring Hilary and Haylie Duff, in a scene where they steal the girls' car.

Madden started a clothing company called MADE clothing together with his brother. Recently they started another Clothing company that is now known as DCMA Collective. Together they also have a record label called DC Flag Records.

Madden dated singer-actress Hilary Duff for 2 ½ years, but their relationship ended in mid-November 2006, supposedly due to their eight-year age difference (Duff was 19 at the time of the breakup, Madden was 27).^[1] In early December of 2006, it was reported that Madden is dating socialite Nicole Richie.