Career
The beginning (White Stripes and De Stijl albums)
The White Stripes (Megan Martha White, drums, vocals; and Jack White whose birth name is John Anthony Gillis, guitar, piano, lead vocals) were formed in Detroit in 1997 and first performed in public on Bastille Day (see 1997 in music).[4] The duo began receiving more attention after Jack White made the tandem the primary focus of his efforts, after his unceremonious exit from the Detroit garage-rock band The Go in 1999. While Jack and Meg have claimed to be siblings,[5] numerous sources have proven that they are in fact divorced.[6] Jack has described their eponymous debut album (released in 1999), as "...really angry...the most raw, the most powerful, and the most Detroit-sounding record we've made".[7]
Their second release, De Stijl (2000), was named after the De Stijl (the style) Dutch art movement which they cited as a source for the approach to their music and to their image. De Stijl-style art was also used on the album cover. It was recorded on a vintage 8 track player in Jack's living room, although he said he would never use that technique again, as there were many interruptions during the recording.
Rising popularity (White Blood Cells and Elephant albums)
The White Stripes enjoyed their first significant success during 2001 with the release of their first major label album White Blood Cells (initially released on Sympathy for the Record Industry, the album was re-released on V2 Records in 2002). The stripped-down, garage rock sound drew critical acclaim in the UK, soon spreading to the United States and becoming one of the more acclaimed bands of 2002.[4] In 2002, Q magazine named The White Stripes as one of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die". The Lego-themed video, directed by Michel Gondry for the single "Fell in Love with a Girl" off White Blood Cells, brought them wider attention.
Their follow-up, entitled Elephant, was released on April 1, 2003, again to widespread critical acclaim and even more commercial success becoming The White Stripes' first UK chart-topper and US Top 10 album. It was recorded with Liam Watson at Toe Rag Studios, London. During their "50 Years of Rock and Roll" celebration, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it as the 390th best album of all time."Rolling Stones List of the 500 Greatest Albums Ever Made" Elephant was lead by the band's most successful single yet, "Seven Nation Army". It was followed up with a cover of "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself", originally by Burt Bacharach. The album's third single was the successful "The Hardest Button to Button". On February 8, 2004 the album won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album, and "Seven Nation Army" won a Grammy for Best Rock Song,
In 2003, Jack and Meg White appeared in Jim Jarmusch's film, Coffee and Cigarettes in a segment entitled "Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil." Later in August of that year, Rolling Stone Magazine included Jack White on a special cover of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" issue at number 17 between Johnny Ramone and John Frusciante.
Released in 2004, Under Blackpool Lights was filmed entirely using 16mm film and was directed by Dick Carruthers. Jack White alerted fans to secrets within the film on his site postings, one of which was sure to be the writing on his arm. Recorded over two nights' shows, this writing says NOXIOUS which changes to OBNOXIOUS at certain points when film from a different night is used. The film features a cover of Dolly Parton's song "Jolene".
Get Behind Me Satan album and other projects
A fifth album, Get Behind Me Satan, was released in North America on June 7, 2005 and has garnered critical acclaim. In that year, Rolling Stone magazine said: "If you happen to be a rock band, and you don't happen to be either of the White Stripes, it so sucks to be you right now."[8] Three singles were released from the album, the first being "Blue Orchid", which was a popular song on satellite radio and occasionally FM stations. White's new spouse appears in the video for the song. The second single was "My Doorbell". The third single, "The Denial Twist", featured a video by Michel Gondry which documented, in typically bizarre White Stripes fashion, the band's week-long appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. The album won Best Alternative Music Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. They were nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "My Doorbell".
The band released a cover version of Tegan and Sara's song "Walking with a Ghost" on iTunes on November 14, 2005. The song was later released on December 7, 2005 as the Walking with a Ghost EP featuring four other live tracks.
On December 1, 2005, the group appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, performing both "The Denial Twist" and "My Doorbell". The White Stripes are one of the few bands to perform on the show (on an earlier show, the group Tenacious D had performed a song after their interview).
The White Stripes postponed the Japanese leg of their world tour after Jack strained his vocal cords. Doctors recommended that Jack not sing or talk for two weeks. He fully recovered and returned to the stage in Auckland, New Zealand to headline the Big Day Out tour.[9]
On May 15, 2006 The Raconteurs fronted by Jack White and Brendan Benson released their debut Broken Boy Soldiers. White has since toured with the band through the rest of the year.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, "Seven Nation Army" became the unofficial hymn for Italy, the Azzurri. The song was picked up by fans of AS Roma, one of Serie A's best teams. The song was sung to serenade Roma's players on the national team, most notably Francesco Totti. The Italian fans often chanted the song's signature guitar riff.[10] A version of the song featuring comments from Italian sports commentator Fabio Caressa enjoyed airplay on Italian radios and TV shows. Appropriately, the Italian team actually had to play against seven other nations to get the title (Ghana, USA, Czech Republic, Australia, Ukraine, Germany, and France).
On October 12, 2006, it was announced on the White Stripes official website that there would be an album of avant-garde orchestral recordings consisting of past music written by Jack White called Aluminium. The album was made available for pre-order on November 6, 2006 to great demand from the band's fans, the LP version of the project sold out in a little under a day. The project was conceived by Richard Russell, who is the founder of XL Recordings. Richard Russell co-produced the album with Joby Talbot. It was recorded between August 2005 and February 2006 at Intimate Studios in Wapping, London using an orchestra. The album is available exclusively through the Aluminium website as a numbered limited edition of 3,333 CDs with 999 LP's also produced but now sold out. The download format will not be limited, and will come with an electronic booklet.[11]
On January 12, 2007 it was announced that in the process of reconstruction, V2 Records will no longer release new White Stripes material, leaving the band currently without a label.[12] However, the band's contract with V2 had already expired, and on February 12, 2007, it was confirmed that the band had signed a single album deal with Warner Brothers.[13]
On February 14, 2007 it was confirmed that the band would be playing the 2007 Bonnaroo Music Festival.
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