Jack White

Background

Ethnicity: Jack's mother's family was Polish, his father was Scottish-Canadian

Jack White, born John Anthony Gillis, was born on July 9, 1975, in Detroit, Michigan, United States. He was the youngest of the ten children of Teresa and Gorman M. Gillis. His father was an appliance repairman and audiophile whose interests merged at home into kludged-together hi-fi systems and music as a constant presence.

Education

Jack was fascinated by music from a very early age; he learned to play the drums after he found a discarded set in his attic. His elder brothers influenced his choice of music in this early period, however, while he was more into classical music as a child, he turned to the blues and 1960s rock music of bands like the Doors, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin when in elementary school. Blind Willie McTell and Son House were his favorite guitarists and would continue to influence him during his musical career.

Intending to become a priest, White almost got admitted to a seminary in Wisconsin but changed his mind and enrolled for a major in business at the renowned Cass Technical High School in Detroit, where he played the drums and trombone in the school band.

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."

Career

Jack White first began performing professionally onstage, at the age of 19, as a drummer for 'Goober & the Peas,' a Detroit band, which, however, folded up in 1996.

He continued his musical career by moonlighting with various local bands and sometimes performing solo while working as an upholsterer by day to sustain himself.

In 1997, he formed a band with wife Meg White after she learned to play the drums. The White Stripes, as they called themselves, had their first show in Detroit's 'Gold Dollar' a couple of months after the band was formed. Presenting themselves as siblings, despite being married, they became a part of the underground garage rock music scene of Michigan, opening for and playing with the more established local bands.

In 1998, they signed up with an independent garage punk label in Detroit, 'Italy Records,' and released their first album 'White Stripes' the next year and followed it up in 2000 with 'De Stijl,' a cult classic that peaked the Billboard's 'Independent Albums' chart at #38.

'White Blood Cells,' released in 2001 to critical acclaim rocketed the band to among the foremost in the revival of the garage band music of the time. Their next album 'Elephant' was even more critically acclaimed and commercially successful; the single, 'Seven Nation Army' topped the 'Billboard Modern Rock Tracks' chart for three weeks, went on to win the 'Grammy Award for Best Rock Song' in 2004, and emerged as a universal sporting and protest anthem.

The duo's fifth album 'Get Behind Me Satan' was released on June 7, 2005. Recorded at home, it marked a change in the musical direction of the band with melodies that were more piano-driven and marimba experimentation along with a more rhythm-based playing of the guitar by White.

In 2005, Jack White collaborated with Brendan Foster to create a song 'Steady, As She Goes' that inspired them to establish a band the Raconteurs along with Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler of the Greenhornes. Their debut album 'Broken Boy Soldiers' topped the charts both in the United States and the United Kingdom and received a nomination for the 'Best Rock Album' at the 2006 'Grammy Awards.' The eponymous lead single was also nominated for 'Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.' The band toured to promote the album and had eight shows opening for Bob Dylan.

'Icky Thump,' their sixth album of The White Stripes, was released in 2007; the first album to be recorded in a studio, the Blackbird Studio in Nashville, it marked a return to the band’s roots in blues and garage-rock sound.

The White Stripes was a major success and debuted at #2 on the 'United States Billboard 200' chart and #1 in the 'United Kingdom Albums Chart.' They toured Canada, playing in each and every province and territory to support the album but canceled many other appearances, especially their United Kingdom tour, due to Meg suffering from acute anxiety attacks.

In 2008, the Raconteurs simultaneously released their second album 'Consolers of the Lonely,' and its first single, "Salute Your Solution." The album received a nomination for 'Best Rock Album Grammy' and peaked at #7 on the 'Billboard 200' chart.

The White Stripes made their first live appearance after their Canadian tour on the final episode of 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien' on February 20, 2009. A documentary on their Canadian tour 'The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights,' was exhibited at the Toronto International Film Festival the same year.

In early 2009, White got together with Alison Mosshart, the frontwoman for The Kills to form a new group Dead Weather. On March 11, 2009, the group presented a few tracks in Nashville from their first album 'Harehound' that released on July 13, 2009, in Europe, and the next day in the United States on White's 'Third Man Records' label.

On March 30, 2010, Dead Weather's first single, "Die by the Drop," was released. The new album 'Sea of Cowards,' again on White’s 'Third Man Records' label, was released first in Ireland on May 7, and in quick succession, thereafter, in the United Kingdom and the United States.

With no other album releases following for close to two years, on February 2, 2011, The White Stripes announced on their website that it was disbanding.

In 2012 White released his first solo album, 'Blunderbuss' (2012), which extended his stylistic reach and deepened his songwriting craft. The follow-up, 'Lazaretto' (2014), garnered mostly glowing reviews.

Dead Weather's third studio album, 'Dodge & Burn' was released on September 25, 2015; it featured eight new songs with four old but remixed tracks.

Inspired by The White Stripes' seminal song of the same name, "We're Going To Be Friends" tells the story of Suzy Lee as "she goes to school with her books and pens, looks for bugs, shows and tells, and finds a friend." White himself wrote the story, with Elinor Blake providing the accompanying illustrations. "We’re Going To Be Friends" was released on November 7th, 2017, just a few months after The White Stripes' 20th anniversary as a band (July 14th, 2017).

His devotion to vinyl recordings was especially evident on the latter album - an ambitious mix of familiar and unexpected musical approaches - which incorporated a raft of technical innovations for turntable users. The eclectic 'Boarding House Reach' (2018) featured a variety of genres, including funk and rap.

Jack White has made a number of appearances in the film industry including playing Elvis Presley in Walk Hard. He was also in "The Dewey Cox Story" (2007); appearances as himself on "Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), "Under Blackpool Lights" (2004), "Under Great White Northern Lights" (2010), "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop" (2011), and "American Pickers" (2012).

Achievements

• 

  Undoubtedly Jack White is one of the most venerated guitarists of the 21st century, he has played a pivotal role in restoring the popularity of punk-blues as the lead guitarist of the rock duo The White Stripes. Even though his fiery strumming of the guitar with accompanying vocals in a nasal voice were the prime reasons for the success of The White Stripes, the group experimented as its reputation became more established and built upon its initially minimalist sound design by incorporating elements of pop, early rock & roll, backwoods country, and metal.
  
  As a solo artist, White also followed a similar evolution and by the time the group was 10 years old, he had successfully collaborated with several other artists and groups, appeared in a number of films, and also produced records for several artists. 'Third Man Records,' his own label and studio releases not only his own work but also by local school children. His second studio album, 'Lazaretto' set the record for most vinyl LP sales in the first week. On the board of the 'Library of Congress' National Recording Preservation Foundation,' White is an advocate for the preservation of analog technology and recording techniques.
  
  Јасk Whіtе wаѕ nоmіnаtеd fоr thе Аmеrісаn Мuѕіс Аwаrdѕ. Не hаѕ wоn thе ВRІТ Аwаrdѕ аnd hаѕ wоn thе Вrіtіѕh Асаdеmу Fіlm Аwаrdѕ. Не hаѕ wоn 2 Сурrеѕѕ Мuѕіс Асаdеmу Аwаrdѕ аnd іѕ thе wіnnеr оf 12 Grаmmу Аwаrdѕ. Не hаѕ аlѕо wоn mаnу МТV Аwаrdѕ аnd thе О Мuѕіс Аwаrdѕ іn 2013. Оthеr аwаrdѕ wоn bу hіm іnсludе Ѕаtеllіtе Аwаrdѕ, Ѕhосkwаvеѕ NМЕ Аwаrdѕ, аnd Мојо Маgаzіnе Аwаrd.
  
  In Rolling Stone's 2003 list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, White ranked 17th.
  
  A generous philanthropist, White donated $170,000 in 2009 for the renovation of the baseball diamond in Detroit's Clark Park. In 2013, he paid the entire $142,000 of the back taxes owed by the 'Detroit Masonic Temple,' which named its second-largest theater the 'Jack White Theater' in gratitude.
  
  White gifted $200,000 to the 'National Recording Preservation Foundation' for restoring and preserving deteriorating sound recordings on heritage media.

Works

More photos

• book

  • We're Going to be Friends 2017

• musi

  • Blunderbuss 2012

• music

  • The White Stripes 1999
  • White Blood Cells 2001
  • Elephant 2003
  • Get Behind Me Satan 2005
  • Broken Boy Soldiers 2006
  • Icky Thump 2007
  • Consolers Of The Lonely 2008
  • Horehound 2009
  • Sea Of Cowards 2010
  • Lazaretto 2014
  • Dodge and Burn 2015
  • Boarding House Reach 2018
  • Help Us Stranger 2019

• Other Work

  • De Stijl 2000

Religion

White was raised in a classic Catholic family, the youngest of ten children. As a teenager, White was seriously considering becoming a man of the cloth - but he went another direction, saying:

"I'd got accepted to the seminary in Wisconsin, and I was gonna become a priest, but 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."

Jack and fellow lifelong Catholic, Stephen Colbert challenged each other to a test of Catholic knowledge once - and filmed it with hilarious results. Neither of them got very many answers right.

Nowadays, White is still a very spiritual person and claims Catholicism - but only because its in his background. It might be anything for White:

"I feel strongly connected to God. My roots are Catholic by default. I can take elements from Buddhism or other religions and see the similarities and differences in those, and learn from those, but at the end of the day, I don't care as much about man’s interpretation of religion. What I care about is what God tells me directly."

Politics

White used to be into politics when he was a teenager, then he decided it just wasn't appropriate for an artist. He said, making a strong point:

"I have never thought that rock music can have a direct influence on anything in relation to questions about war and peace or famine. Perhaps it doesn’t any longer make a difference what other things they are concerned with. If the Beatles could not get us all to love one another, then how would the White Stripes be capable to do it?"

White still gets a little upset about the current state of things. He's made comments regarding what he saw as the pointlessness of modern political parties and the non-choices they offer their public. He said:

"When you belong to a political party, it doesn't matter if it's a monkey or Einstein who's the one running, you vote for him because he's a part of that party."

Views

Jack White had a messianic attitude towards analog recording and vinyl in the age of digital. "If it was 1999 and I was asked: 'What do you think about digital music?', it was my job to say: 'Is that what everyone else is doing? Then I don't like it,'" he said. "If the world had been into analog, I would've said I loved digital. As an artist it is your job not to take the easy way out. I want to be turned on when I listen to an artist speak: I want them to show something that no one else is doing."

"At that time, vinyl records were almost completely gone," he said. "House music and DJs were keeping them alive. The Detroit garage rock scene - and the Hives, the Strokes, the Vines - were a little breath of fresh air for guitar rock and it was our duty to help save vinyl. A lot of that is due to an insane amount of effort from Third Man Records."

Quotations: "Well, I sort of don't trust anybody who doesn't like Led Zeppelin."

"Technology is a big destroyer of emotion and truth. Auto-tuning doesn’t do anything for creativity. Yeah, it makes it easier and you can get home sooner; but it doesn’t make you a more creative person. That’s the disease we have to fight in any creative field: ease of use."

"I'm one of those people that you have to keep your eye on or I'll wander off into the woods and forget to come back."

"When I say nothing, I say everything."

Membership

Jack White is on the board of The National Recording Preservation Foundation and has donated to the organization. He is also on the Gender Equality Council in Tennessee.

Personality

As a child, he was a fan of classical music, but in elementary school, he began listening to The Doors, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin. White is a huge Bob Dylan fan, once famously saying that he had "three dads: my biological father, God and Bob Dylan." Dylan was the first concert he ever attended, and he insists that he was sat in seat 666.

White has an extensive collection of guitars and other instruments and has a preference for vintage items that often have connections to famous blues artists.

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.

Jack White values his privacy and has been known to create misdirection about his personal life; he has been called "eccentric."

White has a reputation with anger including disputes with other artists. In 2003 he was fined for assault and battery. He was also instructed to do a program in anger management.

Jack's love of red and black extends to his choice of cigarette - during his time in the White Stripes, he would only smoke Embassy No 1's because of their packaging.

Physical Characteristics: Jack's height is 1.88 m tall, and his weight is 85 kg.

Interests

• Collecting animal taxidermy

• Writers

  "Harpo Speaks" by Harpo Marx

• Sport & Clubs

  Baseball

• Music & Bands

  Bob Dylan, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Loretta Lynn, Wanda Jackson, Charley Patton

Connections

Jack met Megan White, a bartender at the Memphis Smoke restaurant, and married her on September 21, 1996. Breaking convention, he took on her last name and became Jack White. The couple divorced on March 24, 2000.

In 2003, he entered into a relationship with actress Renée Zellweger. In a car accident involving the couple, White broke his left index finger that forced him to reschedule his summer tour. The two split in December 2004.

On June 1, 2005, White married Karen Elson, a British model. The wedding, officiated by a shaman, took place in a canoe in the Amazon River in Manaus, Brazil; the convalidation was done later by a Roman Catholic priest with manager Ian Montone as the best man and Megan White as the maid of honor. The couple threw a party in June 2011 to announce their intention to divorce, which was finalized on November 26, 2013, after a legal spat.

With Elson, White has two children, daughter Scarlett Teresa and son Henry Lee.

Father:

Gorman M. Gillis

Mother:

Teresa Gillis

Daughter:

Scarlett Teresa White

Son:

Henry Lee White

ex-wife:

Megan White

ex-girlfriend:

Renée Zellweger

ex-wife:

Karen Elson

colleague:

Jay-Z (Shawn Carter)

Jack worked on a track called 'Open Letter' with Jay Z, which was released as a 'playable letter.' Before their collaboration, White had dismissed rap music as novelty music "about women, money, and cars, where every other word is bleeped out. It's so meaningless."

colleague:

Alicia Keys

In 2008 Jack White along with Alicia Keyes has become a member of a very elite club of people who did the songs for the movies about the famous British spy. He did it in his fashion, of course, writing a Jack White song in the first place and a traditional Bond piece in the second. The song got mixed reviews, with people not liking the departure from the classic style of Bond themes, however, it was praised as a stand-alone song.

colleague:

Brendan Benson

Brendan Benson is a member of the band The Raconteurs.

colleague:

Patrick Keeler

James Patrick Keeler is an American rock music drummer from Cincinnati, who best known for playing in The Raconteurs.

colleague:

Jack Lawrence

Lawrence currently plays bass guitar in The Raconteurs.

colleague:

Loretta Lynn

Jack White almost single-handedly revived the career of country icon Loretta Lynn by producing the singer's 2004 album Van Lear Rose. The album's single, the rousing Lynn original "Portland, Oregon," is a duet with White that highlights her distinctive voice and his raw yet precisely calibrated guitar tone.

References

• Jack White - Facebook
• Jack White Live - Instagram