Jack White

Jack White Headshot

Singer • Songwriter • Musician • Record Producer

Birth Name: John Anthony Gillis

Birth Date: July 9, 1975

Age: 49 years old

Birth Place: Detroit, Michigan

Musically rooted in blues, punk, and classic rock, Jack White captivated audiences worldwide with his undeniable talent and showmanship. As one-half of chart-topping band the White Stripes, White helped change the landscape of alternative rock music with the band's critically acclaimed and commercially successful singles "Fell in Love with a Girl" (2001) and "Seven Nation Army" (2003).

Along with musical partner -- and one-time wife -- Meg White, White created an innovative, genre-bending sound mixed with the band's eccentric red-and-white stage outfits, and dazzling live performances. Throughout his career, White also produced music for other artists, acted in films like the Academy Award-winning Civil War drama "Cold Mountain" (2003), and fronted other music groups like The Raconteurs, doing all of it with the same amount of passion and dedication.

After releasing a handful of albums and winning several Grammy Awards, the White Stripes announced they had officially ended in 2011. The band's split marked the end of an era for White's illustrious career, yet it also signified his well-deserved legacy as one of the most brilliant artists and dynamic performers in modern rock history.

Jack White was born John Anthony Gillis on July 9, 1975 in Detroit, MI. He was the youngest of 10 children, raised in a religious household. Both of his parents worked for the Archdiocese of Detroit and instilled their love of music in their children, especially White. The future music star began playing the drums at six, followed by mastering the guitar and piano shortly thereafter.

White loved classical music as a child, but his taste shifted to blues and 1960s rock during his teens. At 17, White worked as an apprentice at an upholstery shop before opening his own shop, Third Man Upholstery, when he was 21. All the while, White continued to play with various bands on Detroit's garage rock music scene.

In 1997, he met and married bartender Meg White, taking on her surname as his own. The couple formed the band The White Stripes, with Jack on guitar and vocals, and Meg, who had never played an instrument before, on drums.

The White Stripes signed with independent label Italy Records in 1998 and released their self-titled debut the following year. Their stripped-down rock sound and signature look - wearing only red and white clothing while performing - captivated indie rock fans hankering for music's "next big thing."

Although they were married to each other at the time, Jack and Meg often pretended to be siblings in press interviews. The couple divorced in 2000, the year their second album De Stijl was released. Having piqued the general public's interest with its striking stage outfits and head-scratching relationship, the White Stripes released breakthrough third album White Blood Cells in 2001, breaking through to the rock mainstream with the manic single "Fell in Love with a Girl."

Their follow-up release Elephant included the White Stripes' most commercially successful single, "Seven Nation Army," which topped the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and peaked at No. 76 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song earned the White Stripes a Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Rock Song, while Elephant won for Best Alternative Music Performance and was nominated for Album of the Year.

The group went on to win more Grammy Awards in the Best Alternative Music Performance category with their subsequent albums Get Behind Me Satan (2005) and Icky Thump (2007).

Even while he was making music with Meg, White also took on several side projects. He produced the 2004 comeback album Van Lear Rose for country legend Loretta Lynn (whom the White Stripes' White Blood Cells was dedicated to), and collaborated with Alicia Keys on the song "Another Way to Die," which was released as the theme song to the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace" (2008).

White also appeared in a handful of films throughout this period. In 2003, he landed a supporting role opposite Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, and then-girlfriend Renee Zellweger in the war drama "Cold Mountain."

White played a Civil War-era mandolin player who catches the eye of Zellweger's mountain-woman character. His other film credits include the Jim Jarmusch-directed drama "Coffee and Cigarettes" (2003) and the comedy faux-biopic "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" (2007), in which he played Elvis Presley.

Rumors of the White Stripes breaking up began swirling in 2005 after White formed another band, The Raconteurs, with Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence, and Patrick Keeler. White and Benson co-wrote The Raconteurs' first single "Steady, As She Goes" for the group's 2006 debut Broken Boy Soldiers.

White ditched the red and white outfits he donned for the White Stripes, and adopted a more natural, country-rock look with The Raconteurs. Broken Boy Soldiers received positive critical reviews, but its commercial performance paled in comparison to the White Stripes' success.

The group charted better in the U.K., where the song "Steady, As She Goes" cracked the Top 10. The band released its second album Consolers of the Lonely in 2008. White formed yet another group called The Dead Weather in 2009, along with Raconteurs bassist Lawrence, Dean Fertita, and Alison Mosshart.

The band released its debut album Horehound that year, which landed at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart. Having stopped touring in 2007 after Meg White began suffering from acute anxiety, the status of the White Stripes was under much speculation until the band officially announced on Feb. 2, 2011 that they had broken up.

A live album and documentary feature about their final tour, "Under Great White Northern Lights," was released in 2010.

Having moved to Nashville with new wife Karen Elson, White turned his label, Third Man Records, into a multimedia empire including a record store and recording studio. Artists ranging from Neil Young, who recorded his 2014 album A Letter Home in White's vintage "make your own record" booth, to talk show host Conan O'Brien recorded in White's studio, while Third Man Records became known for its elaborate vinyl-only releases.

White began his solo career with the album Blunderbuss (2012), followed by Lazaretto. Both achieved solid sales and positive critical attention.

Credits

Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central

Self
Show
2024

Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central

Self
Show
2024

Jack White: Live at Glastonbury

Music Performer
Show
2023

Killers of the Flower MoonStream

Actor
Radio Show Actor
Movie
2023
93%

The Sound of 007Stream

Self
Movie
2022

Jack White à l'Olympia

Music Performer
Show
2022

Jack White: What's the Trick?

Music Performer
Show
2022

Jack White: Shedding My Velvet

Music Performer
Show
2022

Loud: 21st Century Rock

Music Performer
Show
2019

Jack White: Kneeling At The Anthem D.C.

Actor
Show
2018

Jack White: Corporation

Music Performer
Show
2018

American Epic

Executive Producer
Show
2017

The American Epic Sessions

Executive Producer
Movie
2016

The American Epic Sessions

Music Performer
Movie
2016

The MuppetsStream

Guest
Series
2015
64%

The MuppetsStream

Guest Star
Series
2015
64%

The Late Show With Stephen ColbertStream

Music Performer
Talk
2015

Glastonbury

Music Performer
Show
2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonStream

Guest
Talk
2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonStream

Music Performer
Talk
2014

Jack White: Would You Fight For My Love

Music Performer
Show
2014

Jack White: Lazaretto

Music Performer
Show
2014

Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of Inside Llewyn Davis

Self
Show
2013

The 55th Annual Grammy Awards

Music Performer
Show
2013

CBS This Morning: Saturday

Guest
Show
2012

Jack White: Freedom at 21

Music Performer
Show
2012

Jack White: I'm Shakin'

Music Performer
Show
2012

Jack White: Love Interruption

Music Performer
Show
2012

Jack White: Sixteen Saltines (MTV Version)

Music Performer
Show
2012

Jack White: Sixteen Saltines

Music Performer
Show
2012

PortlandiaStream

Guest Star
Series
2011
94%

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi Feat. Jack White: Two Against One

Music Performer
Show
2011

ConanStream

Guest
Talk
2010

ConanStream

Music Performer
Talk
2010

Paul McCartney: In Performance at the White House

Music Performer
Show
2010

American PickersStream

Self
Reality
2010

Shine a Light

Self
Movie
2008

It Might Get Loud

Actor
Movie
2008

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox StoryStream

Actor
Elvis Presley
Movie
2007
75%

Two Headed Cow

Actor
Movie
2006

The Colbert Report

Guest
Talk
2005

The Three Stooges In Color

Director
Show
2005

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Music Performer
Talk
2003

The White Stripes: Candy Coloured Blues

Actor
Movie
2003

Cold MountainStream

Actor
Georgia
Movie
2003
70%

Coffee and Cigarettes

Actor
Jack
Movie
2003

Steve Lamacq

Guest
Show
2002

The SimpsonsStream

Guest Voice
Himself as The White Stripes
Series
1989
85%

Voyage of the Rock Aliens

Original Music
Movie
1984

Cuba Crossing

Original Music
Movie
1980

Austin City LimitsStream

Music Performer
Series
1976

Saturday Night LiveStream

Guest Star
Series
1975

Saturday Night LiveStream

Music Performer
Series
1975

Disorder in the Court

Director
Movie
1936

The Three StoogesStream

Writer
Franchise
1934