Jack White - WikiHQ

John  Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who was the guitarist and lead vocalist of the rock duo the White Stripes. He was a key artist of the 2000s indie and garage rock movements, noted for his distinctive musical techniques, eccentricity, and utilization of analog technology. After the White Stripes split up in 2011, he found success with his solo career and business ventures.

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. They earned international fame with their 2001 breakthrough album White Blood Cells. This, along with the three subsequent White Stripes albums released throughout the decade, established White as a key artist of the decade's rock revival. In the latter half of the 2000s, he founded the rock groups the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather, recorded the Bond theme "Another Way to Die" with Alicia Keys (the only duet to perform a Bond theme), and collaborated with numerous artists.

White co-founded his record label and studio Third Man Records in 2001, which releases vinyl recordings of his own work as well as that of other artists and local school children. The New York Times called White "the coolest, weirdest, [and] savviest rock star of our time" in 2012. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the White Stripes in 2025.

Early life

John Anthony Gillis, named after John the Baptist, He is the youngest of ten children of the late Teresa (née Bandyke; 1930–2026) and Gorman M. Gillis (1927–2006). His mother's family was Polish, while his father was of Scottish heritage by way of Canada. Due to his parents' ages at the time of his birth and the fact that his siblings were significantly older than him, his eldest sibling being 21 at the time, most of the child rearing toward him fell on his siblings. He equated them to having additional parents.

Gillis was raised in Mexicantown, Southwest Detroit. The Gillises lived in a predominantly Mexican and African-American community and were one of the only families in the neighborhood not to perpetuate white flight. He was raised Catholic and both of his parents worked for the Archdiocese of Detroit, his father as a building maintenance superintendent and his mother as a secretary in the cardinal's office. Gillis became an altar boy, which landed him an uncredited role in the 1987 movie The Rosary Murders, filmed mainly at Most Holy Redeemer Church in southwest Detroit. In 1987, Gillis met Pope John Paul II when he visited Detroit and received a blessing.

Gillis's early musical influences were his older brothers, three of whom were in a band together called Catalyst. He learned to play the instruments they abandoned when they moved out of the family home; He has said in interviews that Son House's "Grinnin' in Your Face" is his favorite song of all time. At 15, he began a three-year upholstery apprenticeship with a family friend, Brian Muldoon. The two recorded an album, Makers of High Grade Suites, as the Upholsterers.

He attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit. In a reversal of tradition, he legally took her last name.

After completing his apprenticeship, he started a business of his own, Third Man Upholstery. By 1997, he had bought the family home from his parents and was paying the mortgage of his own volition.

Career

1994–2004: Beginnings and formation of the White Stripes

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. 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." Two months after forming, on July 14, 1997 (also known as Bastille Day, which White recounted), Jack and Meg performed their first show at the Gold Dollar in Detroit; of the three songs on the setlist, one of them 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. They began their career as part of Michigan's underground garage rock music scene. The band released its eponymous debut album in 1999, and a year later the album was followed up by the cult classic De Stijl. The album eventually peaked at number 38 on Billboards Independent Albums chart. In 2001, the band released White Blood Cells. The album's stripped-down garage rock sound drew critical acclaim in the US and beyond, 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.

White Blood Cells was followed up in 2003, by the commercially and critically successful Elephant. The critic at 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", became the band's signature song, reaching number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for three weeks, winning the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song, and becoming an international sporting and protest anthem. Rumors began to circulate in 2003 that White had collaborated with Electric Six for their song "Danger! High Voltage". He and the Electric Six both denied this, Later, Dick Valentine and Corey Martin (Electric Six band s) said White was involved but not paid. Also in 2003, White played guitar and performed backing vocals on the title track of British musician, DJ and producer Mark Ronson's debut album Here Comes the Fuzz featuring Freeway and Nikka Costa on vocals. White worked with Loretta Lynn on her 2004 album Van Lear Rose, which he produced and performed on. The album was a critical and commercial success. Reaching the Top Ten charts in both the US and the UK, The Raconteurs set out on tour to support the album, It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, and entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, selling over 300,000 vinyl copies in England alone. Of his excitement for vinyl, White explained, "We can't afford to lose the feeling of cracking open a new record and looking at large artwork and having something you can hold in your hands." A few days later, the duo canceled the remainder of their 2007 UK tour dates as well.

In February 2008, White participated in releasing limited-edition Holga cameras stylized around the White Stripes. He returned to work with The Raconteurs, also in 2008, for their second album, Consolers of the Lonely. The album and its first single, "Salute Your Solution", were released simultaneously on March 25, 2008. The album reached number seven on the Billboard 200 chart, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album. Alison Mosshart, the frontwoman for the Kills (who was touring with the Raconteurs at the time) would often fill in as his vocal replacement. The group debuted a handful of new tracks on March 11, 2009, in Nashville from their debut album Horehound. It came out on July 13, 2009, in Europe and July 14, 2009, in North America on White's Third Man Records label. White revealed that the White Stripes were planning to release a seventh album by the summer of 2009. On February 20, 2009 (and during the final episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien), the band made their first live appearance after the cancellation of the Icky Thump tour, and a documentary about their Canadian tour—titled The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights—debuted later that year at the Toronto International Film Festival.

2010–2014: Breakup of the White Stripes and solo debut

In October 2009, Mosshart confirmed that the second Dead Weather album was "halfway done", and the first single, "Die by the Drop", was released on March 30, 2010. The new album (again on the Third Man Records label) was titled Sea of Cowards and was released on May 7 of that year in Ireland, on May 10 in the United Kingdom, and on May 11 in the U.S. 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 that 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, 2010. In November 2010, producer Danger Mouse announced that White—along with Norah Jones—had been recruited for his collaboration with Daniele Luppi entitled Rome. White provided vocals to three songs on the album: "The Rose with the Broken Neck", "Two Against One", and "The World".

After almost two years with no new releases, the White Stripes reported on their official website on February 2, 2011, that they were disbanding. White emphasized that it was not due to health issues or artistic differences, "but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band". White finished and performed the song "You Know That I Know", and it was featured on The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams, released on October 4, 2011. In that same year, he produced and played on Wanda Jackson's album The Party Ain't Over. To her delight, his studio also released the album on a 7-inch vinyl. thumb|White performing live in 2012

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. The album ultimately debuted number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and in support of the album, he appeared on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest and played at select festivals during the summer of 2012, including the Firefly Music Festival, Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, the Sasquatch! Music Festival, the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan (one of the biggest festivals in the world), and Rock Werchter in Belgium. Later in the year, he headlined the Austin City Limits Music Festival. During his tour for the album, White employed two live bands, which he alternated between at random. The first, called the Peacocks, was all-female and consisted of Ruby Amanfu, Carla Azar, Lillie Mae Rische, Maggie Björklund, Brooke Waggoner, and alternating bassists Bryn Davies and Catherine Popper. The other, the Buzzards, was all male and consisted of Daru Jones, Dominic Davis, Fats Kaplin, Ikey Owens, and Cory Younts. White said maintaining two bands was too expensive, It was released on June 10, 2014, simultaneously with the first single off the album, "High Ball Stepper". The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and, and later performed as one of the headliners at the Coachella Festival over two weekends in April 2015.

2015–2023: Further collaborations and experimental period

On April 14, 2015, White announced that the festival would be his last electric set, followed by one acoustic show in each of the five U.S. states he had yet to perform in, before taking a prolonged break from live performances. However, he performed on the inaugural episode of the radio show A Prairie Home Companion with the new host, Chris Thile, on October 15, 2016, in support of his compilation album Acoustic Recordings 1998–2016. He co-wrote the song "Don't Hurt Yourself " with Beyoncé on her album Lemonade, and accompanied her on the vocals.

Ahead of his next effort, White worked in isolation and without a cell phone; he rented an apartment in Nashville, recorded quietly so no one would know what he was working on, and slept on an army cot. He drew inspiration from rap artists of the 1980s and 1990s (as well as A Tribe Called Quest, Kanye West, and Nicki Minaj), and chose his backing musicians from talent that had played in live shows supporting hip-hop artists.

thumb|upright=0.75|White in 2021

In January 2018, White released "Connected by Love", taken from his third solo album Boarding House Reach, which was released on March 23, 2018. Like its two preceding albums, it landed at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. In promotion of the album, White appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest, playing "Over and Over and Over" and "Connected by Love". White released Jack White: Kneeling at The Anthem D.C., his first concert film as a solo artist, on September 21, 2018, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. The Raconteurs reunited in 2018 with the release of two singles. They released their third studio album, Help Us Stranger, in 2019. The band went on a hiatus in 2014, though at the time Benson believed that they were split. Critically praised, the album was followed by a US tour.

In October 2021, White released "Taking Me Back"—his first solo single since 2018—which appeared in the video game Call of Duty: Vanguard. In November 2021, White announced that he planned to release two solo albums in 2022: Fear of the Dawn, featuring White's traditional rock sound, on April 8, and Entering Heaven Alive, a folk album, on July 22. White released a video for "Taking Me Back" on November 11, 2021. White released three more singles from Fear of the Dawn: the title track on January 18, 2022, "Hi-De-Ho" on March 3, and "What's the Trick?" on April 7 (the day before the album released). Each of these singles was backed by a track from Entering Heaven Alive, promoting both albums in tandem. Together, the albums were named the dual number one album of the year by Rough Trade UK. In December 2021, White announced the Supply Chain Issues Tour, which went on throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, reaching a total of 103 shows. It kicked off with its first concert on April 8, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan – during which White proposed to his girlfriend Olivia Jean, with the two marrying onstage – and ended on February 24, 2023, in Aspen, Colorado. White performed on Saturday Night Live on February 25, 2023. He played two songs from his Fear of the Dawn album and was presented with a jacket for being a Five-Timer on the show.

2024–present: Resurgence

thumb|White performing in 2025

On July 19, 2024, White distributed test pressings of his upcoming sixth solo studio album by secretly including copies of it with purchases made at Third Man Records locations. Select tracks from the mysterious new album premiered on the WDET radio station that same day. White later announced the album to be called No Name, which was released on August 2, 2024. It received acclaim from critics, who noted his return to blues, the album's raw nature and the similarity to the sound he championed with the White Stripes. The Detroit Free Press said White's album-release methodology "made a stand for rock mystique". White commenced the “No Name Tour” on July 27, 2024. Shows on the first leg of the tour took place in small, club-like venues and were announced only days before they happened. The first leg of the tour consisted of 43 ticketed shows in the United States, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. On November 15, 2024, White announced the second leg of the tour, consisting of 52 higher-ticketed shows in another eight countries, from November 17, 2024, to May 24, 2025. As of December 14, 2024, all but five of White's 2025 tour dates have sold out.

In January 2025, the White Stripes were nominated a second time for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In April 2025, during a sold out two-show stint at The Salt Shed in Chicago, Illinois, the venue debuted the "Jack White Vintage Poster Experience," an art exhibit in its adjacent Elston Electric Arcade featuring an array of White-related promotional touring posters from over the years. In November 2025, they were inducted by Iggy Pop into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. 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. That same month, at the 86th Thanksgiving Day game, White performed at the Detroit Lions's halftime show with Eminem.

On 22 May 2026, White appeared on ‘Only in Monroe’, a local public-access television show produced by Monroe Community Media (formerly MPACT) in Monroe, Michigan. The episode gained national fame because Stephen Colbert guest-hosted the program, just 23 hours after recording the last episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Jack appeared as the shows ‘Musical Director’ - and was surrounded by retro equipment, such as a quarter-inch reel-to-reel tape machine, and a cassette player. Colbert has now presented the show twice to bookend his career on The Late Show.

Other ventures

Film and television work

White has also had a minor acting career. He appeared in the 2003 film 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". The 2003 Jim Jarmusch film Coffee and Cigarettes featured both Jack and Meg in the segment "Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil". He also played Elvis Presley in the 2007 satire Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. In 2016, he appeared as a special guest on the season one finale of The Muppets, and sang "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", which he later released on 7-inch vinyl. In June 2017, White appeared in the documentary film The American Epic Sessions, recording on the first electrical sound recording system from the 1920s. His performances of "Matrimonial Intentions", "Mama's Angel Child", "2 Fingers of Whiskey" (with Elton John) and "On the Road Again" and "One Mic" (with Nas) appeared on Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. He was an executive producer of the film. He also had a minor role in Martin Scorsese's 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon.

Third Man Records

White co-founded Third Man Records in 2001 with Ben Swank, formerly of the Ohio-based Soledad Brothers band. for the artists on its label, for White's own musical ventures, as well as for third parties for hire.

In March 2015, Third Man joined in the launch of TIDAL, a music streaming service that Jay-Z purchased and co-owns with other major music artists. Later that year, White partnered with the watch manufacturer Shinola to open a retail location in Detroit.

Philanthropy

White has provided financial support to institutions in his hometown of Detroit. In 2009, White donated almost $170,000 towards the renovation of the baseball diamond in southwest Detroit's Clark Park. 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 White had footed the entire bill. To thank him for the donation, the temple has decided to rename its second largest theater the Jack White Theater.

The National Recording Preservation Foundation received an inaugural gift of $200,000 from White to use toward restoring and preserving deteriorating sound recordings on media such as reel-to-reel tape and old cylinders. The foundation's director, Eric J. Schwartz said the donation demonstrated a "commitment by a really busy songwriter and performer donating both his time on the board, and money to preserve our national song recording heritage".

In July 2016, White joined Nashville's 45- Gender Equity Council.

On September 18, 2018, White donated $30,000 to The Outsiders House Museum for its preservation and restoration.

On May 3, 2019, Wayne State University of Detroit, Michigan awarded White with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree "for his dedication to Detroit and significant contributions to the arts as one of the most prolific and renowned artists of the past two decades".

Fender partnership

White released a signature amp with Fender called the Fender Jack White Pano Verb, and a hot-rod Jack White TripleCaster Telecaster and a Jack White TripleSonic Acoustasonic guitar.

Artistry and public image

Equipment

White owns many instruments and, historically, has tended to use certain ones for specific projects or in certain settings. He has a preference for vintage guitars, many of which are associated with influential blues artists. Much of his equipment is custom-made, for both technical and aesthetic reasons. White is a proficient guitar, bass, mandolin, percussion and piano player.

During his career with the White Stripes, White principally used three guitars, Though used by several artists, White's attachment to the instrument raised its popularity to the extent that Eastwood Guitars began producing a modified replica around 2000. in an interview for Gibson, he called the instrument his favorite. a Harmony Rocket, pedal, an octave fuzz built for Third Man by Vancouver, British Columbia's Union Tube and Transistor. In 2014, the pedal was reviewed by Premier Guitar, and is found in Jack's pedal setup.

While the Raconteurs were still in development, White commissioned luthier Randy Parsons to create what White called the Triple Jet—a custom guitar styled after the Duo Jet double-cutaway guitar. Parsons's first product was painted copper color. However, he decided to create a second version with a completely copper body, which White began to use instead. In 2020 White completed his Three-Wheel-Motion Low Rider - which is a highly customized Fender Telecaster B-Bender guitar.

He has since acquired another Gretsch, a custom white "Billy Bo" Jupiter Thunderbird with a gold double pickguard (as seen in the music video for "Another Way to Die").

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. 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 song "Seven Nation Army". He plugs this setup into a 1970s Fender Twin Reverb "Silverface" and two 100-Watt Sears Silvertone 1485 6×10 amplifiers. On the album Broken Boy Soldiers, both he and Benson are credited with playing the album's synths and organ.

With the Dead Weather, White plays a custom Ludwig Classic Maple kit in Black Oyster Pearl. Notably, it includes two-snare drums, which White calls "the jazz canon".

| source = —Jack White

White has long been a proponent of analog equipment and the associated working methods. In a 2012 episode of the show, Portlandia, White made a cameo in a sketch spoofing home studio enthusiasts who prefer antique recording equipment.

According to Andy Whitman of Paste Magazine: "Although Jack White is frequently compared to Jimmy Page, he has more Neil Young in him than most critics want to admit. A limited technician, White always managed to do more with less than just about any guitarist in rock. [...] Recapturing the raw blues power and wattage of classic Zeppelin and Stones albums, White’s guitar squawks, squeals [and] soars."

Presentation

During their 2013 divorce proceedings, Elson entered into evidence an email White had sent her that included disparaging remarks about the Black Keys. When asked about the email in a 2014 Rolling Stone interview, White stood by the remarks, saying, "I'll hear TV commercials where the music's ripping off sounds of mine, to the point I think it's me. Half the time, it's the Black Keys." In September 2015, Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney posted a series of tweets alleging that White tried to fight him in a bar. White denied the claim in a statement to Pitchfork, saying that Carney should talk to him directly, and not on the internet. The following day, Carney posted a tweet saying, "Talked to Jack for an hour he's cool. All good." White tweeted on the Third Man Twitter account, "From one musician to another, you have my respect Patrick Carney." The rider, especially the guacamole recipe it included and White's ban of bananas backstage, received some media coverage. It was later reported that, in response to the rider's publication, White's booking agency, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, had banned its acts from playing shows at the University of Oklahoma. On February 15, White released an open letter addressed to "journalists and other people looking for drama or a diva" in which he referred to the guacamole recipe as his tour manager's "inside joke with local promoters" and "just something to break up the boredom" and the ban of bananas being alluded to food allergies of an unnamed tour member, while criticizing journalists who wrote about the rider as "out of their element". In the same letter, he forgave OU Daily for publishing the story and reaffirmed his affinity for the state of Oklahoma and his desire to perform there.