Jack White is an American musician, singer-songwriter,
record producer, multi-instrumentalist, designer,
director, writer, and actor.
On April 24, 2012, White released his debut
solo album, Blunderbuss, which received wide
critical acclaim.
His second studio album, Lazaretto, was released
on June 10, 2014.
He has been ranked No. 17 on Rolling Stone's
list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists".
White's popular and critical success with
The White Stripes enabled him to collaborate
as a solo artist with other renowned musicians,
such as Beck, the Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck,
Alicia Keys, Bob Dylan, Wanda Jackson, Electric
Six, and Loretta Lynn, whose 2004 album Van
Lear Rose he produced and performed on.
In 2006, White became a founding member of
the rock band the Raconteurs.
In 2009, he became a founding member and drummer
of his third commercially successful group,
the Dead Weather.
He was awarded the title of "Nashville Music
City Ambassador" by the Nashville mayor Karl
Dean in 2011.
He is a board member of the Library of Congress'
National Recording Preservation Foundation,
a music historian, collector and philanthropist,
as well as an advocate for analog technology
and recording techniques.
Early life
John Anthony Gillis was born in Detroit, Michigan,
the youngest of ten children of Teresa and
Gorman M. Gillis, His mother's family was
Polish, while his father had Scottish-Canadian
ancestry.
He grew up in a Catholic family.
His father and mother worked for the Archdiocese
of Detroit, as the Building Maintenance Superintendent
and secretary in the Cardinal's office, respectively.
White eventually became an altar boy, which
landed him an uncredited role in the 1987
movie The Rosary Murders, filmed mainly at
Holy Redeemer parish in southwest Detroit.
As a child, he was a fan of classical music.
He attended Cass Technical High School in
Detroit.
He began playing the drums at the age of six.
As a teenager, White was already listening
to the blues and 1960s rock that would influence
him in The White Stripes, Son House and Blind
Willie McTell being among his favorite blues
musicians.
He and his childhood friend, Dominic Suchyta,
would listen to records in White's attic on
weekends and began to record cover songs on
an old four-track reel to reel tape machine.
At the time White was described as "a kid
with short hair and braces".
He has said in many interviews that Son House's
"Grinnin' In Your Face" is his favorite song
of all time.
In 2005 on 60 Minutes, White 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."
At 15, White began a three-year upholstery
apprenticeship with a family friend, Brian
Muldoon.
White credits Muldoon with exposing him to
punk music and pushing him to play music with
Muldoon as a band: "He played drums, well
I guess I'll play guitar then."
The two recorded an album, Makers of High
Grade Suites, as the Upholsterers.
White later started a one-man business of
his own, Third Man Upholstery.
The slogan of his business was "Your Furniture's
Not Dead" and the color scheme was yellow
and black—including a yellow van, a yellow-and-black
uniform, and a yellow clipboard.
Although Third Man Upholstery never lacked
business, White claims that it was unprofitable,
because of his complacency about money and
his business practices that were perceived
as unprofessional, including making bills
out in crayon and writing poetry inside the
furniture.
Shortly thereafter, White landed his first
professional gig, as the drummer for the Detroit
band Goober & the Peas.
He also played in other local bands and did
solo shows.
Recording career
The White Stripes
White formed The White Stripes in 1997, along
with Meg White.
The band began its career as part of the Michigan
garage rock underground music scene, playing
with local bands such as Bantam Rooster, the
Dirtbombs, the Paybacks, Rocket 455, and the
Henchmen, among others.
In 1998, the White Stripes were signed to
Italy Records, a small and independent Detroit-based
garage punk label, by Dave Buick.
The band released its self-titled debut album
in 1999, and a year later the album was followed
up by the cult classic De Stijl.
The album eventually peaked at No. 38 in Billboard's
Independent Albums chart when the band had
established their popularity.
While performing and in music videos, Jack
and Meg are very recognisable visually: they
dress 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 UK and soon afterward
in the US, making The White Stripes one of
the more acclaimed bands of 2002.
The album was followed up in 2003 by the commercially
and critically successful Elephant.
Allmusic wrote that the album "sounds even
more pissed-off, paranoid and stunning than
its predecessor ... darker and more difficult
than White Blood Cells.
" The album's first single, "Seven Nation
Army", was the band's most successful.
The band's fifth album, Get Behind Me Satan,
was recorded in White's own home and marked
a change in the band's musical direction,
with piano-driven melodies and experimentation
with marimba and a more rhythm-based guitar
playing by White.
The band's sixth album Icky Thump, released
in 2007, entered the UK Albums Chart at number
one and debuted at number two on the Billboard
200.
The album's sound also included more punk,
garage and blues influences than its predecessor.
In late 2007, the band announced the cancellation
of 18 tour dates due to Meg White's acute
anxiety problems.
White had revealed plans to release a seventh,
yet-untitled album in the summer of 2009.
However, this never materialized.
The band also made their first live appearance
since Meg's anxiety problems in September
2007 on the final episode of Late Night with
Conan O'Brien on February 20, 2009.
A documentary, The White Stripes: Under Great
White Northern Lights, about the band's 2007
tour, in which they played a gig in every
Canadian province and territory, appeared
in the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.
In July 2007, The White Stripes made history
by playing the shortest concert ever only
playing one note, in St John's, Newfoundland.
They played a full show later that night at
the Mile One Centre in downtown St. John's.
On February 2, 2011, it was reported on the
main page of whitestripes.com that the duo
had decided to part ways.
White stated that it was not due to health
issues or artistic differences but there were
a "myriad of reasons".
The Raconteurs
White formed The Raconteurs in 2005 along
with Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence and Patrick
Keeler.
The origin of the band was the song 'Steady,
As She Goes' which White wrote along with
Benson.
This inspired them to create a full band with
the addition of Lawrence and Keeler.
The band came together in Detroit during 2005
and, for the remainder of the year, recorded
when time allowed.
The band's debut album Broken Boy Soldiers
was recorded at Benson's home in Detroit.
The band set out on tour to support the album,
including eight dates as the opening act for
Bob Dylan.
The group's second album, Consolers of the
Lonely, and its first single, "Salute Your
Solution", were released simultaneously in
2008.
The album received a Grammy nomination.
The Dead Weather
In early 2009, Jack White formed a new group
called the Dead Weather with the Kills' frontwoman
Alison Mosshart.
White takes drum and vocal duties, while the
Raconteurs bassist Jack Lawrence and Queens
of the Stone Age keyboardist and guitarist
Dean Fertita round the four piece out.
The group debuted a handful of new tracks
on March 11, 2009 in Nashville from their
debut album Horehound, which came out July
13, 2009 in Europe and July 14, 2009 in North
America, on White's Third Man Records label.
On October 16, 2009, Mosshart confirmed that
the second album was "halfway done".
The first single "Die by the Drop" was released
on March 30, 2010.
The new album, Sea of Cowards was released
on May 7 in Ireland, then on May 11, 2010,
in the U.S. and May 10 in the United Kingdom,
and again, on White's Third Man Records.
Solo career
It was rumored that in 2003 White had collaborated
with Electric Six for their song "Danger!
High Voltage."
Both he and the Electric Six denied this,
and the vocal work was credited officially
to John S O'Leary.
However, in a recent radio interview with
Tim Shaw on Kerrang!
105.2 in the UK, Electric Six lead singer
Dick Valentine talking openly about White
singing on this song as well as speculating
on the amount of money he was paid.
Also, a Q magazine article stated that Jack
White did in fact work with Electric Six on
the song "Gay Bar".
In 2008, White collaborated with Alicia Keys
on the song "Another Way to Die", the theme
song for the James Bond film Quantum of Solace.
He appeared in the movie Cold Mountain as
a character named Georgia and performed five
songs for the Cold Mountain soundtrack: "Sittin'
on Top of the World", "Wayfaring Stranger",
"Never Far Away", "Christmas Time Soon Will
Be Over" and "Great High Mountain."
In 2009, Jack White was featured in It Might
Get Loud, a film in which he, Jimmy Page,
and The Edge come together to discuss the
electric guitar and each artist's different
playing methods.
White's first solo single, "Fly Farm Blues,"
was written and recorded in 10 minutes during
the filming of the movie in August.
The single went on sale as a 7-inch vinyl
record from Third Man Records and as a digital
single available through iTunes on August
11.
In November 2010, producer Danger Mouse announced
that White had been recruited for his collaboration
with Daniele Luppi entitled Rome along with
Norah Jones.
White provided vocals to three songs on the
album: "The Rose with the Broken Neck," "Two
Against One" and "The World."
The song "You Know That I Know", finished
and performed by White, was featured on The
Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams, released
on October 4, 2011.
On January 30, 2012 White released "Love Interruption"
as the first single off his debut, self-produced
solo album, Blunderbuss, which was released
on April 24, 2012.
On March 3, 2012, he appeared on Saturday
Night Live as the musical guest, with Lindsay
Lohan hosting.
He played selected dates in the summer of
2012, with festivals such as the Firefly Music
Festival, Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, Sasquatch!
Music Festival, Fuji Rock Festival in Japan,
one of the biggest festivals in the world,
Rock Werchter in Belgium, and later in the
year he headlined Austin City Limits Music
Festival.
For his solo shows, White tours with two bands.
One, The Peacocks, is all-female and consists
of Ruby Amanfu, Carla Azar, Lillie Mae Rische,
Maggie Bjorklund, Brooke Waggoner, and alternating
bassists Bryn Davies and Catherine Popper.
The other, The Buzzards, is all-male and consists
of Daru Jones, Dominic Davis, Fats Kaplin,
Ikey Owens, and Cory Younts.
On April 1, 2014 Jack White announced his
second solo album, Lazaretto, which was released
on June 10, 2014.
He simultaneously released the first single
off the album, "High Ball Stepper."
Musical equipment and sound
In live settings, White plays two 1965 JB
Hutto Montgomery Airline guitars, a three
pickup Airline Town & Country, a Harmony Rocket,
a 1970s-era Crestwood Astral II, 1950s-era
Kay Hollowbody, a Gretsch White Penguin, and
a custom Gretsch Rancher Falcon acoustic guitar.
When playing with the Raconteurs, White usually
plays two custom Gretsch-styled copies of
the Duo Jet double-cutaway guitar, which were
made in collaboration with his Seattle luthier,
Randy Parsons.
His main guitar is dubbed the Triple Jet,
which is made of copper and features a Gretsch
logo from 1912.
For their first tour, White also played Gretsch
Anniversary Jr. with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece
and three Filtertron pickups.
He also uses a Gretsch Rancher acoustic guitar
and he now uses a custom Gretsch Anniversary
Jr. with two cutaways, a built-in retractable
microphone, and a theremin next to the Bigsby.
White has dubbed this one the "Triple Green
Machine".
Also, he plays occasionally with his Gretsch
Rancher, a Gibson J-160E.
Also, he plays a Gretsch Duo Jet in Cadillac
Green.
Recently, he has featured his latest Gretsch,
a custom white Billy Gibbons/Bo Diddley signature
Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird in the music video
for "Another Way to Die", this guitar is also
used on his concerts with the Dead Weather,
but he also uses a black left-handed one since
Sea of Cowards came out.
He has also been known to play Fender Telecasters,
featuring one in the music video for Loretta
Lynn's "Portland, Oregon."
White uses numerous effects to create his
live sound, most notably a DigiTech Whammy
WH-4 to create the rapid modulations in pitch
he uses in his solos.
In concert with an MXR Micro Amp and custom
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Distortion/Sustainer,
White can produce a very distinctive sound.
In 2005, for the single "Blue Orchid," White
employed a new Electro-Harmonix creation,
the Polyphonic Octave Generator.
Similar to the Whammy IV, the POG lets the
user mix in several octave effects into one
along with the dry signal.
All of the pedals that he uses live have been
professionally painted red to match his redwhite
color scheme.
He plugs this setup into a 1970s Fender Twin
Reverb and two 100-Watt Sears Silvertone 1485
6×10 amplifiers.
With the Raconteurs, he has many more unusual
pedals.
And also, for the Raconteurs' 2008 tour, he
had all of his pedals copper plated by Analog
Man.
White also produces a "fake" bass tone by
playing the Kay Hollowbody and JB Hutto Montgomery
Airline guitars through a Whammy IV set to
one octave down for a very thick, low, rumbling
sound, which he uses most notably on the songs
"Seven Nation Army" and "The Hardest Button
to Button" during live performances.
On occasion, White also plays other instruments,
such as a Black Gibson F-4 mandolin, piano,
and an electric piano on such tracks as "The
Air Near My Fingers" and "I'm Finding it Harder
to be a Gentleman".
White also plays percussion instruments such
as the marimba, drums and tambourine.
For the White Stripes' 2007 tour, he played
a custom-finish Hammond A-100 organ with a
Leslie 3300 speaker, which was subsequently
loaned to Bob Dylan, and currently resides
at Third Man Studios.
On Broken Boy Soldiers, he is credited as
playing the album's synths and organ; however,
bandmate Brendan Benson also received credit
for these instruments and it is unclear who
played on which song.
With the Dead Weather, White plays a custom
Ludwig Classic Maple kit in Black Oyster Pearl.
The sizes consist of the following: 16×26
kick, 5×16 snare 12×14 marching snare, 7×16
rack tom 14×16 floor tom, two 16×16 floor
toms, Paiste 2002 24" crash, 24" ride and
two 16" crashes as hi-hats.
For the 2009 Full Flash Blank tour, White
used a drum head with the Three Brides of
Dracula on the front, but in 2010, White employed
a new drum head, upon the release of Sea of
Cowards, which has an image of The Third Man
himself: Harry Lime attempting to escape certain
capture in the sewers of Vienna.
During the American leg of the 2010 tour,
White switched his drum head again featuring
a picture of himself in the guise he wore
on the cover of Sea of Cowards.
This drum head is called Sam Kay by some fans,
referring to the insert inside of the 12"
LP.
In 2010, White added an acoustic guitar to
his collection named Veronica Lake.
It is a custom white Gretsch Rancher with
a gold double pickguard and a picture of Veronica
Lake on the back.
He is currently playing it with his band The
Dead Weather.
It is the newest addition to "Jack's Girlfriends"
which already include Claudette Colbert that
he plays In the Raconteurs, and Rita Hayworth
that he plays in the White Stripes.
In his introduction in the documentary film,
It Might Get Loud, White showcases his minimalist
style and ingenuity by constructing a rudimentary
guitar in a pastoral setting.
The "guitar" was built out of a plank of wood,
two nails, a glass Coke bottle, a guitar string,
and a pickup.
He ends the demonstration by saying, "Who
says you need to buy a guitar?"
An important aspect of the sound of White's
recordings comes from the fact that they are
recorded on analog equipment.
White has long been a proponent of analog
equipment and the associated working methods,
stating in a 2012 interview, "I love analogue
because of what it makes you do.
Digital recording gives you all this freedom,
all these options to change the sounds that
you are putting down, and those are for the
most part not good choices to have for an
artist," and "Mechanics are always going to
provide inherent little flaws and tiny little
specks and hisses that will add to the idea
of something beautiful, something romantic.
Perfection, making things perfectly in time
and perfectly free of extraneous noise, is
not something to aspire to!
Why would anyone to aspire to such a thing?".
White founded his own studio, Third Man, in
2009, and its main pieces of equipment are
a Neve desk and two Studer A800 2-inch 8-track
tape recorders.
His solo album, Blunderbuss, and the material
he releases on his Third Man label are recorded
at his own studio.
He explained, "For the longest time I did
not want to have my own studio gear, mostly
because with the White Stripes I wanted to
have the constriction of going into a studio
and having a set time of 10 days or two weeks
to finish an album, and using whatever gear
they happen to have there.
After 10 to 15 years of recording like that
I felt that it was finally time for me to
have my own place to produce music, and have
exactly what I want in there: the exact tape
machines, the exact microphones, the exact
amplifiers that I like, and so on."
Personal life
White has been married twice and divorced
twice.
He has two children.
He is protective of his family's privacy and
gives few details of his private life.
He states that he does not consider it relevant
to his art, saying "It's the same thing as
asking Michelangelo, 'What kind of shoes do
you wear?'...In the end, it doesn't really
matter ... the only thing that's going to
be left is our records and photos."
Marriage to Meg White
A topic of intrigue has been the actual relationship
between Jack and Meg White.
In early interviews, the pair presented themselves
as siblings, two of ten.
The Flaming Lips touch on this in their song
"Thank You Jack White" released on their 2003
EP Fight Test.
However, the Detroit Free Press produced copies
of both a marriage license and divorce certificate,
confirming Jack and Meg's history as a married
couple.
Neither addresses the truth officially and
over time, they have become less verbal about
the origins of their relationship.
Jack White has said, though, that siblings
are "mated for life", thus such relationships
distract less from the music.
Jack mentions them being brother and sister
in the documentary Under Great White Northern
Lights.
They were married on September 21, 1996, and
were divorced on March 24, 2000.
He took her last name.
Relationship with Renée Zellweger
In 2003, White made his acting debut in Mutant
Swinger from Mars, and had a brief but highly
publicized romantic relationship with actress
Renée Zellweger, whom he met during the filming
of Cold Mountain.
That summer, the couple were in a car accident
in which White broke his left index finger
and was forced to reschedule much of the summer
tour.
He posted the footage of his finger surgery
on the web for fans.
White and Zellweger's breakup became public
in December 2004.
Marriage to Karen Elson
White met British model Karen Elson when she
appeared in The White Stripes music video
for "Blue Orchid".
The video's director, Floria Sigismondi, noted
"you sensed an energy between them".
They married on June 1, 2005, in Manaus, Brazil.
The wedding took place in a canoe on the Amazon
River and was officiated by a shaman.
A Roman Catholic priest later convalidated
their marriage.
Manager Ian Montone was the best man and Meg
White was the maid of honor.
Official wedding announcements stated that
"it was the first marriage" for both.
On May 2, 2006, the couple had a daughter,
Scarlett Teresa White.
Their second child, Henry Lee White, was born
on August 7, 2007.
The White family resided in Brentwood, Tennessee,
a suburb south of Nashville, where Elson managed
a vintage clothing store called Venus & Mars.
The couple announced their divorce in June
2011, throwing a divorce party to celebrate
their sixth anniversary and the "making and
breaking of the sacred union of marriage,"
according to the invitation sent to guests.
Aggravated assault charge
On December 13, 2003, White was involved in
an altercation with Jason Stollsteimer, lead
singer of the Von Bondies, at the Magic Stick,
a Detroit club.
White was charged with misdemeanor aggravated
assault.
He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of
assault and battery, and was fined $750, and
was sentenced to take anger management classes.
Restraining order
On July 22, 2013, a Nashville judge barred
White from having "any contact with Karen
Elson whatsoever except as it relates to parenting
time with the parties' minor children."
A counter-motion by White's attorney Cathy
Speers Johnson was filed on August 2, 2013,
stating that "The reason for filing this response
is that Mr. White does not want to be portrayed
as something he is not, violent toward his
wife and children."
"Three Quid"
White is often referred to as eccentric.
For instance, he has an obsession with the
number three.
On November 7, 2005, it was widely reported
that White had changed his name to "Three
Quid".
However, most reports indicated that this
would only last until the end of the tour.
Masonic Temple
The Detroit Masonic Temple was nearly foreclosed
on in 2013 after it was revealed that owners
owed $142,000 in back taxes.
In June 2013, it was revealed that the entire
bill was footed by White.
To thank him for the donation, the temple
has decided to rename its second largest theater
the Jack White Theater.
Awards & nominations
White has won eight Grammy Awards.
Solo backing bands
Male backing band
Daru Jones - drums
Dominic Davis - bass
Fats Kaplin - pedal steel guitar, fiddle,
mandolin, theremin
Ikey Owens - B3 organ, piano, keyboards
Cory Younts - mandolin, harmonica, piano,
keyboards, percussion, background vocals
Female backing band
Carla Azar - drums
Catherine Popper - bass
Maggie Bjorklund - pedal steel guitar, acoustic
guitar
Brooke Waggoner - piano, B3 organ, keyboards
Lillie Mae Rische - fiddle, mandolin, background
vocals
Ruby Amanfu - vocals
Discography
Solo studio albums
Solo singles
Other charted songs
As producer
The White Stripes – The White Stripes
De Stijl – The White Stripes
Soledad Brothers – Soledad Brothers
White Blood Cells – The White Stripes
Lack of Communication – the Von Bondies
Do Rabbits Wonder? –
Whirlwind Heat
Elephant – The White Stripes
Van Lear Rose – Loretta Lynn
Get Behind Me Satan – The White Stripes
Red and Black EP – The Muldoons
Sewed Soles – The Greenhornes
Broken Boy Soldiers – the Raconteurs
Icky Thump – The White Stripes
Consolers of the Lonely – The Raconteurs
Horehound – The Dead Weather
The Wind Did Move/Last Kind Words – Dexter
Romweber Duo
I Like My Mice/Spider Bite – Mildred and
the Mice
My House of Peace – Rachelle Garniez
Bohemian Grove/Atheist Funeral – Dan Sartain
C'Mon And Ride/After Party – Transit
Fly Farm Blues – Solo
Gastown/River Song – Smoke Fairies
Fame #9/BP Fallon Interview/I Believe In Elvis
Presley – BP Fallon
You Know I'm No Good/Shakin' All Over –
Wanda Jackson
What Can I Do/Lies – The Black Belles
Sea of Cowards – The Dead Weather
The Ghost Who Walks – Karen Elson
Under Great White Northern Lights – The
White Stripes
Third Man Live: Dex Romweber Duo – Dex
Romweber Duo
Third Man Live: The Raconteurs – The Raconteurs
Third Man Live: Nobunny – Nobunny
And They Call Me Mad/Conan O'Brien Interview –
Conan O'Brien
The Party Ain't Over – Wanda Jackson
"Charlene II" – The Black Belles and Stephen
Colbert
"Leck mich im Arsch" – Insane Clown Posse,
adaptation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with
JEFF the Brotherhood
Live at Third Man Records: Jerry Lee Lewis –
Jerry Lee Lewis
Blunderbuss – Solo
Lazaretto – Solo
Soundtrack appearances
Cold Mountain – "Wayfaring Stranger", "Sittin'
on Top of the World", "Never Far Away", "Christmas
Time Will Soon Be Over", "Great High Mountain"
Quantum of Solace – "Another Way to Die"
Shine a Light – "Loving Cup"
It Might Get Loud – "Fly Farm Blues"
The Great Gatsby – "Love Is Blindness"
Album appearances
Rome by Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi –
"The Rose with the Broken Neck", "Two Against
One" and "The World"
The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams by various
artists – "You Know That I Know"
AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered by various artists –
"Love Is Blindness"
Filmography
The Rosary Murders – uncredited altar boy
Mutant Swinger from Mars – Mikey
Cold Mountain – Georgia
Coffee and Cigarettes – Himself
Under Blackpool Lights – Himself
The Fearless Freaks – Himself
Walk Hard – Elvis Presley
Shine a Light – Himself
It Might Get Loud – Himself
Under Great White Northern Lights – Himself
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop – Himself
American Pickers – Himself
Portlandia, Season 3, Episode 1 – Himself
References
External links
Official website
Third Man Records
Whitestripes.com, official site of The White
Stripes
TheRaconteurs.com, official site of The Raconteurs
Thedeadweather.com, official site of The Dead
Weather
The Jack White Archives, Original fan site
for all things Jack White
"Jack White's Women Problem," The Atlantic,
April 2012
Jack White at the Internet Movie Database
Jack White collected news and commentary at
The Guardian
