John Anthony White (né Gillis; born July 9, 1975) is a Detroit-born musician best known for his work in Garage Rock/Blues Rock band The White Stripes. He bounced around bands during the Garage Rock-Revival in the late '90's before forming the White Stripes with his then-wife, Meg White (he took her last name). Before their eponymous debut was released, Jack and Meg divorced, but the band stayed together. The White Stripes officially disbanded in 2011 after having been inactive since 2009. In 2005, White formed a band called The Raconteurs with Brendan Benson and members of the Greenhornes. In 2009, he formed The Dead Weather with Alison Mosshart (of the Kills and Discount fame). White released his first solo album Blunderbuss in 2012, and his second Lazaretto in 2014. Two more albums followed; Boarding House Reach in 2018 and Fear of the Dawn in 2022, with a fifth album, Entering Heaven Alive scheduled for release in July 2022 as well.
He married Karen Elson in 2005 and had two children together, but they divorced in 2011.
He's known for his Hair-Trigger Temper and his DIY ethic. He currently runs Third Man Records in Nashville, TN where he records, produces and distributes records for other artists.
Tropes:
- Amicable Exes: With Meg White, the other half of The White Stripes, he went on to keep working with her for 11 years after the divorce.
- Arc Number: 3, for reasons he refuses to disclose.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer
- The Cover Changes the Gender: Averted when he covers "Jolene" by Dolly Parton and "Bang Bang" by Nancy Sinatra.
- Deliberately Monochrome: As you might expect, color plays a strong role in White's visual aesthetic. Following his minimalist philosophy of music, i.e. "what is the least number of elements necessary?", he is known for limiting himself to a palette of only three colors in some of his major works: black, white and red for The White Stripes; black, white and blue for his solo albums; and black, white and yellow for his record label, Third Man Records.
- Foil: Completely unintentional but Jack White makes a darn good one against, appropriately enough, Jack Black. See here
. - Hipster: Fashion sense: Vintage. Preferred genres: Blues, R&B, Garage Rock, Experimental. Exclusivity: Dates back to when he was an upholsterer, and hid 100 copies of his first band's only single, "Makers of High-Grade Suites", in the furniture he was restoring. Now that he runs Third Man Records, he's taken it to a whole new level.
- Messy Hair: It changes a lot, but he usually sports an unruly mop of jet-black curls. It gets ridiculous when he plays drums.
- Perpetual Frowner: It's somehow hard to get him to smile, even at baseball games.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Traits shared by both him and Meg White, perhaps helping to sell the conceit that they were brother and sister.
- Retraux: His entire MO.
- The Rival: He, the lead of The White Stripes, does not get along well with The Black Keys.
- Serious Business: Admitted in an interview with Conan O'Brien that he takes upholstery "very seriously", due to having worked with it before taking up music full-time.
- Three Chords and the Truth: Despite being an accomplished and talented guitarist, White seems to prefer minimalism to intricacy. Many of his songs are based around simple power chord progressions.
- Title Theme Tune: Performed "Another Way To Die", the main theme of the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace, in duet with Alicia Keys.
- Took the Wife's Name: He took Meg White's name when they got married, and kept it after they divorced.
