Jack White

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Lore & Background

Jack White began his career moonlighting in several underground Detroit bands as a drummer and guitarist. He met Meg White in the 1990s, and the two founded the White Stripes in 1997. Two months after forming, on July 14, 1997 (Bastille Day), Jack and Meg performed their first show at the Gold Dollar in Detroit; of the three songs on the setlist, one was 'Jimmy the Exploder', which would be the intro of their debut album in 1999. Despite being married until 2000, they publicly presented themselves as siblings. They kept to a chromatic theme, dressing only in red, white, and black. In 2001, the band released White Blood Cells. The album's stripped-down garage rock sound drew critical acclaim in the US and beyond, making the White Stripes one of the more acclaimed bands of 2002. John Peel, an influential DJ and the band's early advocate in the UK, said they were the most exciting thing he had heard since Jimi Hendrix.

In Their Own Story

At 19 years old, White had landed his first professional gig as the drummer for the Detroit band Goober & the Peas, and was still in that position when the band broke up in 1996. It was in this band that he learned about touring and performing onstage. After the band's split, he settled into working as an upholsterer by day while moonlighting in local bands, as well as performing solo shows. Though a bartender by trade, Meg began to learn to play the drums in 1997, and according to Jack, 'When she started to play drums with me, just on a lark, it felt liberating and refreshing.' The couple became a band, calling themselves the White Stripes. In 2005, on 60 Minutes, he told Mike Wallace that his life could have turned out differently. 'I'd got accepted to a seminary in Wisconsin, and I was gonna become a priest, but at the last second I thought, "I'll just go to public school." I had just gotten a new amplifier in my bedroom, and I didn't think I was allowed to take it with me.'

Reader's Guide

Jack White's career is defined by his work with the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, the Dead Weather, and his solo albums. He released his debut studio album Blunderbuss (2012) to strong reviews and sales. His second studio album, Lazaretto (2014), broke the record for most first-week vinyl sales since 1991, holding that record until 2021. His following three experimental albums garnered critical and commercial success. His sixth and seventh albums, No Name (2024) and Frozen Charlotte (2026), are noted for their unique release methods and earned general acclaim. Among several accolades, White has won twelve Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone included him on their 2010 and 2023 lists of the greatest guitarists of all time. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the White Stripes in 2025.

Did You Know?

• Jack White legally took his wife Meg's last name when they married on September 21, 1996, in a reversal of tradition.
• He was an altar boy and met Pope John Paul II in 1987 when the pope visited Detroit, receiving a blessing.
• White's upholstery business, Third Man Upholstery, had the slogan 'Your Furniture's Not Dead' and a yellow-and-black color scheme.
• He recorded the Bond theme 'Another Way to Die' with Alicia Keys, the only duet to perform a Bond theme.
• White was accepted to a seminary in Wisconsin to become a priest but chose to go to public school instead because he got a new amplifier.