Jack White Biography, Videos & Pictures
Jack White Facts
| Name: Jack White | Guitars: Airline, Gretsch |
| Born: July 9, 1975 | Amplifiers: Fender, Silvertone |
| Origin: Detroit, MI | |
| Bands: Goober & The Peas, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs, The White Stripes | |
| Links: Official White Stripes Site, Fan Site | |
Jack White was born on July 9, 1975, as John Gillis. Jack, the youngest of ten children, started his musical education at the age of 5, playing a drum. As a teenager, White listened to blues and 60s rock instead of the electronica and hip hop that most of his classmates were listening to. Along with childhood friend, Dominic Suchyta, White covered some of his favorite songs on an old 4 track reel to reel recorder in his parents attic. His favorite musicians during this time were Son House and Blind Willie McTell, and he has stated many times that his favorite song of all time is Son House’s “Grinnin In Your Face”.
White was accepted to a seminary school and was going to become a priest, but had just gotten an amplifier and didn’t think he would be allowed to take it with him. Rather than leave his amplifier behind, White made the decision to go to public school. He began an apprenticeship at an upholstery shop at the age of 15. After the three year apprenticeship White worked in various upholstery shops before starting his own business, which he called Third Man Upholstery. White says that the business had a fair amount of customers but was never profitable.
White’s first professional music gig was as a drummer for a Detroit band called Goober & The Peas. He played in several other local bands before forming The White Stripes with Meg White in 1997. The band played the Michigan area garage rock scene before being signed to Italy records. The band released is eponymous debut album in 1999 and followed it up a year later with the release of “De Stijl”. Their sophomore effort reached the 38th spot on Billboard Magazine’s list of top independent albums.
The band’s 2001 release, “White Blood Cells” received critical acclaim in both the UK and the US. In 2002, drawing off of the success of “White Blood Cells”, The White Stripes were one of the most popular acts. Their 2003 album, “Elephant”, only fueled the bands success, containing their most popular single to date, “Seven Nation Army”. The band recorded their fifth album in White’s house. The album, “Get Behind Me Satan”, featured more piano driven melodies and rhythm based guitar work by White. It was released in 2005.
Also in 2005, White formed a second band, The Raconteurs. The band started with a single track written by White and fellow Raconteurs member Brendan Benson. The song, “Steady, As She Goes” inspired the duo to create a full band. Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler rounded out the Raconteurs lineup, and the group recorded their first album during 2005 as time allowed. The album “Broken Boy Soldiers” was recorded in Benson’s home and released in 2006.
2007 saw another release by The White Stripes, their sixth album, “Icky Thump”. A tour in support of the album was cut short in late 2008 by acute anxiety problems suffered by Meg White. Jack was able to stay busy, writing and recording with The Raconteurs on their second album, “Consolers of the Lonely”. That album was released in 2008 and was nominated for a Best Rock Album Grammy. The resulting tour led to The Raconteurs playing several noteworthy music festivals, including Lollapalloza, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Bonnaroo Music Festival, the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and several international festivals such as Scotlands, T in the Park, Ireland’s Oxegen and Poland’s Open’er Festival.
2009 was a busy year for Jack White. Early in the year he formed yet another band, The Dead Weather, featuring Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Jack Lawrence from The Raconteurs, and Dean Fertita from Queens of the Stone Age. That band’s debut album was released on White’s own Third Man Records label. White also announced that he and Meg were working on The White Stripes ninth album and the duo gave their first live performance since Meg’s anxiety problems on the final episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien on February 20. Rounding out 2009 was White’s appearance in a documentary about electric guitar called “It Might Get Loud” with fellow guitarists Jimmy Page and The Edge. White released a solo single, “Fly Farm Blues”, which was written and recorded while filming the documentary.
According to marriage documents, Jack took the name the surname White after marrying Meg White on September 21, 1996. The two claimed in early interviews to be siblings, and after the marriage and divorce documents were made public by the Detroit Free Press, never officially commented.
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