1997–1999: Early years, formation and The White Stripes In high school,
Jack Gillis (as he was then known) met
Meg White at a coffee shop in either
Ferndale or
Hamtramck. The two started dating and began frequenting the coffee shops, local music venues, and record stores of the area. Gillis was an established drummer during this period, performing with his upholstery apprenticeship mentor, Brian Muldoon, the Detroit
cowpunk band
Goober & the Peas, the
garage punk band
the Go,
the Hentchmen, and
Two-Star Tabernacle. Gillis and White were married in 1996. Contrary to convention, he took his wife's surname. On
Bastille Day 1997, In Jack's words, "When she started to play drums with me, just on a lark, it felt liberating and refreshing. There was something in it that opened me up." They began their career as part of the Michigan
underground garage rock scene, playing with local bands such as
the Hentchmen,
the Dirtbombs,
the Gories, and Rocket 455. In 1998, Dave Buick—owner of an
independent, Detroit-based, garage-punk label called
Italy Records—approached the band at a bar and asked if they would like to record a single. Jack initially declined, believing it would be too expensive, but he eventually reconsidered when he realized that Buick was offering to pay for it. Their debut single, "
Let's Shake Hands", was released on vinyl in February 1998, with an initial pressing of 1,000 copies. This was followed in October 1998 by the single "
Lafayette Blues" which, again, was only released on vinyl with copies. In 1999, the White Stripes signed with the California-based label
Sympathy for the Record Industry. The self-titled debut was produced by Jack and engineered by American music producer
Jim Diamond at his
Ghetto Recorders studio in Detroit. The album was dedicated to the seminal Mississippi
Delta blues musician
Son House, an artist who influenced Jack. The track "Cannon" from
The White Stripes contains part of an
a cappella version, as performed by House, of the traditional American
gospel blues song "
John the Revelator". The White Stripes also covered House's song "
Death Letter" on their follow-up album,
De Stijl. Looking back on their debut during a 2003 interview with
Guitar Player, Jack said, "I still feel we've never topped our first album. It's the most raw, the most powerful, and the most Detroit-sounding record we've made." AllMusic said of the album: "Jack White's voice is a singular, evocative combination of punk,
metal, blues, and
backwoods while his guitar work is grand and banging with just enough lyrical touches of
slide and subtle
solo work... Meg White balances out the
fretwork and the fretting with methodical, spare, and booming
cymbal,
bass drum, and
snare... All
D.I.Y. punk-country-blues-metal singer-songwriting duos should sound this good." Jack and Meg divorced in March of that same year. The White Stripes were scheduled to perform at a local music lounge soon after they separated. Jack assumed the band was over and asked Buick and nephew Ben Blackwell to perform with him in the slot that had been booked for the White Stripes. However, the day they were supposed to perform, Meg convinced Jack that the White Stripes should continue and the band reunited. The White Stripes' second album,
De Stijl (Dutch for "The Style"), was released on the Sympathy for the Record Industry label on June 20, 2000. The songs were recorded on an
8-track analog tape in Jack's living room,
De Stijl displays the simplicity of the band's blues and "scuzzy garage rock" fusion prior to their breakthrough success. The album title derives from the Dutch
art movement of the same name; common elements of the
De Stijl aesthetic are demonstrated on the album cover, which sets the band members against an
abstract background of rectangles and lines in red, black and white.
De Stijl eventually reached number 38 on
Billboard Magazine's
Independent Albums chart in 2002, around the time the White Stripes' popularity began establishing itself. One
New York Times critic at the time said that the Stripes typified "what many hip rock fans consider real music." Some time after the release of their
eponymous debut album, a New Zealand tour manager named John Baker came across their music at a party in Australia. Interested in booking them for an Oceanic tour, he contacted their San Francisco-based booking agent, Dave Kaplan, who said he only worked with the band in the United States, so Baker would need to handle that tour himself. While Jack and Meg White were at home rehearsing one night, Baker called to discuss the opportunity, but they assumed he was joking. Weeks later, Baker tenaciously managed to track Jack down during a tour stop in Denver, Colorado and called the bar–all the way from Auckland, New Zealand–to speak to him again about touring; although Jack was still incredulous, Baker convinced them by personally offering to pay for the flight. Baker financed the flights with a friend, Amber Easby, who would go on to manage the merch for the band's tours throughout their career. Baker arranged for them to tour New Zealand and Australia with a brief stopover in Japan beforehand, which was the first international experience for them. They were scheduled for their first television and radio appearances. Their Australian concerts took place in Melbourne. After a modestly successful tour, Baker was asked to be their tour manager permanently. Following the Oceanic tour, the single
Party of Special Things to Do was released as a 7" on
Sub Pop in December 2000. It comprised three songs originally performed by
Captain Beefheart, an
experimental blues rock musician. The White Stripes' third album,
White Blood Cells, was released on July 3, 2001, on
Sympathy for the Record Industry. The band enjoyed its first significant success the following year with the
major label re-release of the album on
V2 Records. Its stripped-down
garage rock sound drew critical acclaim in the UK, and in the US soon afterward, making the White Stripes one of the most acclaimed bands of 2002. After their first appearance on network TV (a live set on
The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn), Joe Hagan of
The New York Times declared, "They have made rock rock again by returning to its origins as a simple, primitive sound full of unfettered zeal."
White Blood Cells peaked at number 61 on the
Billboard 200, reaching Gold record status by selling over 500,000 albums. It reached number 55 in the United Kingdom, being bolstered in both countries by the single "
Fell in Love with a Girl" and its accompanying
Lego-animation music video directed by
Michel Gondry. It was also nominated for Video of the Year, but fell short of winning. It also spawned the acclaimed singles "
Hotel Yorba", "
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground", and "
We're Going to Be Friends".
Stylus Magazine rated
White Blood Cells as the fourteenth greatest album of 2000–2005, while
Pitchfork ranked it eighth on their list of the top 100 albums from 2000 to 2004. In 2002, George Roca produced and directed a concert film about the band titled
Nobody Knows How to Talk to Children. It chronicles the White Stripes' four-night stand at New York City's
Bowery Ballroom in 2002, and contains live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Its 2004 release was suppressed by the band's management, however, after they discovered that Roca had been showing it at the Seattle Film Festival without permission. According to the band, the film was "not up to the standards our fans have come to expect"; Also in 2002, they appeared as musical guests on
Saturday Night Live.
2003–2006: Elephant and Get Behind Me Satan The White Stripes' fourth album,
Elephant, was recorded in 2002 over the span of two weeks with British
recording engineer Liam Watson at his
Toe Rag Studios in London. Jack self-produced the album with antiquated equipment, including a
duct-taped 8-track tape machine and pre-1960s recording gear.
Elephant was released in 2003 on
V2 in the US, and on
XL Recordings in England. It marked the band's
major label debut and was their first UK chart-topping album, as well as their first US Top 10 album (at number six). and platinum certification in the United States. To promote the album, they made several appearances on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' in 2003, and they collaborated with
Conan O'Brien frequently afterwards.
Elephant garnered critical acclaim upon its release. AllMusic said the album "sounds even more pissed-off, paranoid, and stunning than its predecessor... Darker and more difficult than
White Blood Cells."
Elephant was notable for Jack's first guitar solos and Meg's first leading vocal performance on "
In the Cold, Cold Night"; critics also praised Meg's drumming.
Rolling Stone placed Jack at number 17 on its list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and included Meg on its list of the "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time".
Elephant was ranked number 390 on the magazine's list of the
500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2009, the album came in at number 18 in NME's "Top 100 Greatest Albums of the decade".
NME referred to the album as the pinnacle of the White Stripes' time as a band and one of Jack White's best works of his career. in 2005 The album's first single, "
Seven Nation Army", was the band's most successful and topped the Billboard rock charts. Its success was followed with a cover of
Burt Bacharach's "
I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself". The album's third single was the successful "
The Hardest Button to Button". "
There's No Home for You Here" was the fourth single. In 2004, the album won a
Grammy for
Best Alternative Music Album, while "Seven Nation Army" won a Grammy for
Best Rock Song. Also in 2004, the band released its first music film
Under Blackpool Lights, which was shot entirely on
super 8 film and was directed by Dick Carruthers. In 2005, Jack began working on songs for the band's next album at his home. He played with different techniques than in past albums, trading in his electric guitar for an
acoustic on all but a few of the tracks, as his trademark
riff-based lead guitar style is overtaken by a predominantly rhythmic approach. The White Stripes' fifth album,
Get Behind Me Satan, was released in 2005 on the
V2 label. The title is an allusion to a Biblical quotation Jesus made to the
Apostle Simon Peter from the
Gospel of Matthew 16:23 of the
New Testament (in the
King James Version, the quotation is slightly different: "Get thee behind me, Satan"). Another theory about this title is that Jack and Meg White read James Joyce's story collection "
Dubliners" (published 1914) and used a line from the story "Grace" to title this album. The title is also a direct quotation from
Who bassist
John Entwistle's solo song "You're Mine". With its reliance on piano-driven melodies and experimentation with
marimba on "The Nurse" and "Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)",
Get Behind Me Satan did not feature the explicit blues and punk styles that dominated earlier White Stripes albums. However, despite this, the band was critically lauded for their "fresh, arty reinterpretations of their classic inspirations."
Rolling Stone ranked it the third best album of the year and it received the
Grammy for
Best Alternative Music Album in 2006. Three singles were released from the album, the first being "
Blue Orchid", a popular song on satellite radio and some FM stations. The second and third singles were "
My Doorbell" and "
The Denial Twist", respectively, and music videos were made for the three singles. "My Doorbell" was nominated for
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The White Stripes postponed the Japanese leg of their world tour after Jack strained his vocal cords, with doctors recommending that Jack not sing or talk for two weeks. While on the British leg of the tour, Jack changed his name from Jack White to "Three quid". On October 12, 2004,
Jim Diamond—the owner and operator of Ghetto Recorders recording studio—filed a lawsuit against the band and Third Man Records for "breach of contract". In the suit, he claimed that as the co-producer, mixer, and editor on the band's debut album, and mixer and engineer on
De Stijl, he was due royalties for "mechanical rights". The band filed a counterclaim on May 16, 2005, requesting damages against Diamond and an official court declaration denying him rights to the material. The White Stripes released a cover version of
Tegan and Sara's song "
Walking with a Ghost" on iTunes in November 2005. The song was later released in December as the
Walking with a Ghost EP featuring four other live tracks. In October 2006, it was announced on the official White Stripes website that there would be an album of
avant-garde orchestral recordings consisting of past music written by Jack called
Aluminium. The album was made available for pre-order on November 6, 2006, to great demand from the band's fans; the LP version of the project sold out in a little under a day. The project was conceived by
Richard Russell, founder of
XL Recordings, who co-produced the album with
Joby Talbot. It was recorded between August 2005 and February 2006 at Intimate Studios in
Wapping, London using an orchestra. Before the album went out of print, it was available exclusively through the
Aluminium website in a numbered limited edition of 3,333 CDs with 999 LPs.
2007–2008: Icky Thump and hiatus '' tour in Canada, 2007 On January 12, 2007, V2 Records announced that, due to being under the process of reconstruction, it would no longer release new White Stripes material, leaving the band without a label. However, as the band's contract with V2 had already expired, on February 12, 2007, it was confirmed that the band had signed a single album deal with
Warner Bros. Records. Their sixth album,
Icky Thump, was released on June 19, 2007. Following the well-received
Get Behind Me Satan,
Icky Thump marked a return to the punk, garage rock and blues influences for which the band is known. It was recorded at
Blackbird Studio in
Nashville and took almost three weeks to record—the longest of any White Stripes album. It would also be their first album with a title track. The album's release came on the heels of a series of concerts in Europe and one in North America at Bonnaroo. Prior to the album's release, three tracks were previewed to
NME: "
Icky Thump", "
You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)" and "
Conquest".
NME described the tracks as "an experimental, heavy sounding 70s riff", "a strong, melodic love song" and "an unexpected mix of big guitars and a bold horn section", respectively. On the US Billboard Charts dated May 12, 2007, "Icky Thump"—the first single—became the band's first Top 40 single, charting at number 26, and later charted at number 2 in the UK.
Icky Thump entered the
UK Albums Chart at number one, and debuted at number two on the
Billboard 200 with 223,000 copies sold. By late July,
Icky Thump was certified gold in the United States. As of March 8, 2008, the album has sold 725,125 copies in the US. On February 10, 2008, the album won a
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. in 2007 On April 25, 2007, the duo announced that they would embark on a tour of Canada, performing in all 10 provinces, plus
Yukon,
Nunavut and
Northwest Territories. In the words of Jack: "Having never done a tour of Canada, Meg and I thought it was high time to go whole hog. We want to take this tour to the far reaches of the Canadian landscape. From the ocean to the permafrost. The best way for us to do that is ensure that we perform in every province and territory in the country, from the Yukon to Prince Edward Island. Another special moment of this tour is the show which will occur in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia on July 14, the White Stripes' Tenth Anniversary." Canadian fiddler
Ashley MacIsaac opened for the band at the
Savoy Theatre, Glace Bay show; earlier in 2007, MacIsaac and Jack had discovered that they were distantly related. It was also at this time that White learned he was related to Canadian fiddle player
Natalie MacMaster. , Manitoba in 2007 On June 24, 2007, just a few hours before their concert at Deer Lake Park, the White Stripes began their cross-Canada tour by playing a 40-minute set for a group of 30 kids at the Creekside Youth Centre in
Burnaby. The Canadian tour was also marked by concerts in small markets, It was inducted briefly in 2009, but was discontinued the following year. Media publications have continued to call it the shortest concert. They played a full show later that night at the
Mile One Centre in downtown St. John's. Video clips from several of the secret shows have been posted to YouTube. As well, the band filmed its video for "
You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)" in Iqaluit. After the conclusion of the Canadian dates, they embarked on a brief US leg of their tour, which was to be followed by a break before more shows in the fall. But before their last show—in
Southaven, Mississippi—
Ben Blackwell (Jack's nephew and the group's archivist) says that Meg approached him and said, "This is the last White Stripes show". He asked if she meant of the tour, but she responded, "No. I think this is the last show, period." A few days later, the duo canceled the remainder of their 2007 UK tour dates as well. In his review of
Under Great White Northern Lights for
Vanity Fair, Bill Bradley commented on the tour cancellations, saying that it was "impossible" not to see Meg as "road-weary and worn-out" at the end of the film. The band was on hiatus from late 2007 to early 2011. While on hiatus, Jack formed a group called
the Dead Weather, although he insisted that the White Stripes remained his top priority. Dominique Payette, a Quebecois radio host, sued the band for $70,000 in 2008 for sampling 10 seconds of her radio show in the song "Jumble Jumble" without permission. The matter was ultimately settled out of court. In early 2008, the band released limited-edition
Holga cameras stylized around Jack and Meg.
2009–2011: Final years and disbandment The White Stripes performed live for the first time since September 2007 on the final episode of ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' on February 20, 2009, where they performed an alternate version of "
We're Going to Be Friends". In an article dated May 6, 2009, with MusicRadar.com, Jack mentioned recording songs with Meg before the Conan gig had taken place, saying, "We had recorded a couple of songs at the new studio." About a new White Stripes album, Jack said, "It won't be too far off. Maybe next year." Jack also explained Meg's acute anxiety during the Stripes' last tour, saying, "I just came from a Raconteurs tour and went right into that, so I was already full-speed. Meg had come from a dead-halt for a year and went right back into that madness. Meg is a very shy girl, a very quiet and shy person. To go full-speed from a dead-halt is overwhelming, and we had to take a break." The Conan gig proved to be their final live performance as a band. In 2009 Jack reported that the White Stripes were working on their seventh album. A concert film,
Under Great White Northern Lights, premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival on September 18, 2009. The film documents the band's summer 2007 tour across Canada and contains live concert and off-stage footage. Jack and Meg White appeared at the premiere and made a short speech before the movie started about their love of Canada and why they chose to debut their movie in Toronto. The tour was in support of the album
Icky Thump, and they performed in every province. Additionally, their 10th anniversary occurred during the tour on the day of their show at the
Savoy Theatre in
Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, and in this shot, Jack and Meg are dancing at the conclusion of the concert. The film was directed by a friend of the duo,
Emmett Malloy. In an interview with
Self Titled, Jack alluded to the creation of a White Stripes film,
Under Nova Scotian Lights, to be released later in 2009. In an interview with
contactmusic.com, Jack claimed that working with the White Stripes would be "strange". "It would definitely be strange to go into the White Stripes again and have to rethink my game," adding: "But that would be the best thing about it, because it would be a whole new White Stripes." In February 2010, a
Super Bowl ad by the US
Air Force Reserve caused the White Stripes to "take strong insult and objection to the Air Force Reserve presenting this advertisement with the implication that we licensed one of our songs to encourage recruitment during a war that we do not support." In November 2010, the White Stripes contributed a previously released cover version of the song "Rated X" to the compilation album ''
Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute To Loretta Lynn. In late 2010, the White Stripes reissued their first three albums on Third Man Records on a 180-gram vinyl along with 500 limited-edition, "split-colored" records to accompany it. Jack hinted at a possible White Stripes reunion in a 2010 interview with Vanity Fair''. He said, "We thought we'd do a lot of things that we'd never done: a full tour of Canada, a documentary, coffee-table book, live album, a boxed set... Now that we've gotten a lot of that out of our system, Meg and I can get back in the studio and start fresh." On February 2, 2011, the duo announced that they had officially ceased recording and performing music as the White Stripes. The announcement specifically denied any artistic differences or health issues, but cited "a myriad of reasons ... mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band".
Post-disbandment (2012). Following the band's breakup, Jack continued his music career while Meg retired and returned to Detroit. In a 2014 interview, Jack told
Rolling Stone that Meg's emotionally reserved nature had been a source of tension when the duo was together, as she had little to say about the band's success. He spoke positively, however, of her musical acumen, saying "She was the antithesis of a modern drummer. So childlike and incredible and inspiring. All the not-talking didn't matter, because onstage? Nothing I do will top that." He also said that he believes a reunion is unlikely. Several unreleased recordings and
memorabilia of the band have been released through Third Man, typically through the
Third Man Records Vault, a "rarity-excavating" quarterly subscription service. This began with a 2009 package that included a
mono mix of
Icky Thump. In 2016, the previously unheard "City Lights" was released as a promotional single after Michel Gondry surprised Jack with a music video. It was additionally featured on Jack's
compilation album Acoustic Recordings 1998–2016 and received a nomination for
Best American Roots Song at the
59th Annual Grammy Awards. During the campaigning for the
2016 United States presidential election, then
Republican candidate
Donald Trump used "
Seven Nation Army" in a campaign video against the Stripes' wishes. Jack and Meg made a joint post on the White Stripes Facebook page, stating that they were "disgusted by this association, and by the illegal use of their song" and that they had "nothing whatsoever to do with this video". They also released a limited edition T-shirt that read "Icky Trump" on the front. On October 6, 2020, a
greatest hits album titled
The White Stripes Greatest Hits was announced through Third Man not as a vault exclusive. It consists of twenty-six songs including "
Ball and Biscuit" which was released as a
promotional single. The band relaunched their
Instagram account to promote the album. It was released in the United States by
Third Man and
Columbia Records on December 4, 2020,
Wartella-directed music videos for "
Let's Shake Hands" and "
Apple Blossom" were released simultaneously. AllMusic's Heather Phares wrote: "
The White Stripes Greatest Hits is filled with the same detail, wit, and willingness to subvert expectations that made the band so dynamic when they were active... the collection's hand-curated feel is much more personal than the average best-of or streaming play list."
The New Yorker's
Amanda Petrusich called the album "a good reminder of how odd and inventive the band was... It feels old-fashioned, even deliberately so, but it sounds awfully good." In May 2023, Third Man Books announced
The White Stripes Complete Lyrics 1997-2007, a book featuring lyrics written during the band's activity in addition to rough drafts and unseen content. When compiling the lyrics, Jack said that "I couldn't get through any of those songs; I would cry halfway through each of those songs... some of them are the first songs I really had ever written, or among the earliest... humbly, I don't really know why anyone would get anything out of them... but people reflect back at you and keep mentioning that and you go 'OK, I guess people are getting something out of that. It was released in October of that same year. Also in 2023, in their first year of eligibility, the White Stripes were nominated for the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but were not inducted. The Trump campaign again used "Seven Nation Army" during the
2024 United States presidential election, which resulted in Jack and Meg filing a
copyright infringement lawsuit in September 2024. Their complaint accuses Trump of "flagrant misappropriation" and clarifies that they "vehemently oppose the policies adopted and actions taken by Defendant Trump when he was President and those he has proposed for the second term he seeks". The lawsuit was dropped in November 2024. In January 2025, the White Stripes were nominated a second time for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Andy Greene of
Rolling Stone remarked that the chances of a reunion were slim due to Meg retreating from the music industry and media, and wrote, "Let's hope that Meg at least watches the
Disney+ livestream and smiles when the White Stripes are inducted. Great moments don't always need to play out in public. And Meg White doesn't owe us anything." In November of that same year, they were
inducted by
Iggy Pop into the hall of fame. Meg declined to attend the ceremony; Jack accepted the award for the band and gave a speech written by him and Meg. He said, "she said she's very sorry she couldn't make it tonight, but she's very grateful for the folks who have supported her throughout all the years, it really means a lot to her tonight." He also read a poem dedicated to her. ==Artistry==