The coolest, weirdest, and savviest rockstar of our time!
Jack started out playing drums around town in his native Detroit in the 90s. He met, married, and founded a band with Meg called The White Stripes in 1997.
Just before they became famous, they divorced and started referring to each other as brother and sister. Meg would be the silent partner playing drums, kind of like Teller of Penn and Teller.
Jack did all the songwriting, singing, producing, bass, keyboard, and guitar playing. Together they released many hits during the garage rock revival of early 2000 (other bands part of this movement were The Strokes and the Arctic Monkeys).
Some of these tunes became popular later on, for example, Jolene (Dolly Parton cover) which was a B side to Hello Operator, a single from their second album De Stijl.
Their first proper hit came on their third album in Fell In Love With The Girl, which was covered just two years later by Joss Stone under the name Fell In Love With The Boy. This was Joss Stone’s breakthrough single.
Jack’s original version charted higher than Joss’, it went to #2 in the U.K. The single had another future hit as a B-side in I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself.
Their next album, Elephant (2003) had the worldwide smash hit Seven Nation Army on it, a tune Jack’s A & R Man initially dismissed. Perhaps that guy should get a new job, Seven Nation Army has been nominated for song of the decade.
In 2005, The White Stripes released Get Behind Me Satan, and in 2007 Icky Thump. None of these contained any notable singles.
During the tour for Icky Thump, Meg suffered anxiety attacks, eventually leading to the tour being canceled. She has since left the limelight.
Jack, clearly a very determined man, had already lined up the replacement in his new band. Formed a year earlier, they’d even written and released their best tune, Steady, As She Goes.
This new band, named The Raconteurs, was formed between Jack and his best buddy Brendan Benson after they’d been visiting each other’s houses in Nashville, writing songs for fun.
During the early days, they’d perform their own songs as well as covers such as Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), Crazy, Who Do You Love, and Baby, Please Don’t Go.
Even with so much talent on tap, The Raconteurs never managed to top their debut single Steady, As She Goes.
Jack’s biggest release since then came in 2008 when he teamed up with Alicia Keys to release the James Bond theme tune Another Way To Die.
In 2012, The New York Times called Jack White “The coolest, weirdest and savviest rockstar of our time”, which is hard to argue with!
Jack White tunes | Related pages
Jolene
You can learn how to play Jolene by Dolly Parton using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| Am C |2/4 G |4/4 Am |
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene…
Seven Nation Army
You can learn how to play Seven Nation Army by White Stripes using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| Em (E G E D) | C5 B5 | Em (E G E D) | C5 B5 |
I’m gonna fight ’em all. A seven nation army couldn’t hold me back…
Steady As She Goes
You can learn how to play Steady As She Goes by The Raconteurs using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| Bm F# | A E |
Find yourself a girl and settle down…
Jack White on the web
