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Seven Nation Army
Background:
Grammy-winning rock musician, singer, and music producer Jack White, who once
wanted to become a priest, is famous as the guitarist and lead vocalist of the
duo group The White Stripes, along with Meg White as the band’s drummer. He came
to the international attention with the group’s third release White Blood Cells
(2001) and the alternative smash hit “Fell in Love with a Girl,” and went on to
reach stardom with the Grammy-winning album Elephant (2003) and the
Grammy-winning song “Seven Nation Army.” The White Stripes’ fifth album, Get
Behind Me Satan, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. Jack also nabbed a
Grammy Award in 2004 for his duet with renowned artist Loretta Lynn, in the song
“Portland, Oregon.” It was comprised in Lynn’s album Van Lear Rose (2004), in
which Jack also served as producer. Jack is also one of the members of the rock
group The Raconteurs, and the owner of a record label, Third Man Records.
Aside from his musical career, Jack also has occasionally appeared as an actor.
He appeared as Georgia in Cold Mountain (2003) and in the comedy Coffee and
Cigarettes (2003), written and helmed by Jim Jarmusch. He is rumored to play the
role of Elvis Presley in the upcoming comedy Walk Hard (2008).
As for his personal life, Jack is known for his eccentric behavior, passions and
hobbies. For example, he is interested in taxidermy, an interest that cultivated
from his years in upholstering. He also has fascinations with the number three
and all that it symbolizes, as well as with red, white, and black colors, which
he believes are the three most dominant colors in the universe. As a result, he
and The White Stripes dress only in those three colors whenever they perform. On
a more private note, Jack is the ex-husband of the White Stripes-mate Meg White,
whom he formerly mentioned as his sister. He is now married to model-singer
Karen Elson and had a daughter in 2006. They are expecting their second kid, due
late Summer 2007.
Son House’s Fan
Childhood and Family:
John Anthony Gillis, who would later be famous as Jack White, was born on July
9, 1975, to a big Catholic family in Detroit, Michigan. He is the youngest of
ten children of Gorman and Teresa Bandyk Gillis, who both worked for the
Archdiocese of Detroit. His father worked as the maintenance man and his mother
as the Cardinal’s secretary. As a child, he became an admirer of classical
music, and taught himself how to play the drums when he was five. Growing up, he
added the blues and 1960s rock as his favorite music to be listened to. During
this time, he idolized such blues musicians as Son House and Blind Willie McTell.
Jack wanted to become a pastor prior to be a musician. Recalling, he said “I’d
got accepted to a seminary in Wisconsin, and I was gonna become a priest, but at
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 was married to Meg White, a bartender-turned-band mate, from September 21,
1996 to March 24, 2000. He married his current wife, model and singer Karen
Elson, who appeared in the music video for the White Stripes song “Blue Orchid,”
on June 1, 2005. The ceremony was held in Manaus, Brazil, with Ian Montone as
best man and Meg as the maid of tribute. Their daughter, Scarlett Teresa, was
born on May 2, 2006, in Tennessee, where they recently purchased a new house.
The couple are expecting their second child, due late Summer 2007.
Portland, Oregon
Career:
After high school, wanting to learn business, the Detroit, Michigan native Jack
White apprenticed as an upholsterer’s assistant at Muldoon Studio for three
years before finally setting up his own upholstery shop, Third Man Upholstery,
at age 21. During his term at Muldoon Studio, he founded a band with the owner
Brian Muldoon called Two Part Resin, and they produced the 3-track-single The
Upholsterers. By this period, Jack had already worked with several bands,
including the country-rock group Goober and the Peas (played the drums) and the
rock groups The Go and Two Star Tabernacle (both as guitarist/vocalist).
As a struggling businessman, Jack met Meg White (born on December 10, 1974, in
Detroit, Michigan), who at that time was a bartender, and they formed a rock duo
called White Stripes, in 1997, with Jack playing guitar and singing and Meg
playing the drums. They made their live performance debut at the Gold Dollar in
Detroit in July that same year, and soon became an underground darling in
Detroit and other circles. After signing with Sympathy for the Record Industry,
The White Stripes released their self-titled debut album in 1999.
The sophomore effort De Stijl followed in the next year. Despite the couple’s
devastating personal life, marked by their marriage failure, the duo remained
intact and signed to a bigger label, V2 Records. Under this record label, the
band enjoyed international success with the release of White Blood Cells (2001),
which spawned the alternative hit “Fell in Love with a Girl.” They cemented
their reputation as one of the most popular guitar rock groups in the US with
their fourth album, Elephant (2003), which won a Grammy for Best Alternative
Music Album. The single of “Seven Nation Army” brought Jack, as the songwriter,
a Grammy for Best Rock Song. The same year, Jack was named Rolling Stone’s “17th
greatest guitarist of all time.” He furthered those prominences by taking on the
role of Georgia in box office civil war movie Cold Mountain (2003), starring
Nicole Kidman, where he also performed several songs for the film’s soundtrack
in a traditional acoustic style. Along with Meg, he also appeared in Jim
Jarmusch’s film Coffee and Cigarettes, that same year.
Riding high on The White Stripes’ victory, Jack collaborated with the famed
Loretta Lynn for a duet song “Portland, Oregon.” The song was included in Lynn’s
2004 album Van Lear Rose, where Jack also served as producer. The album was
launched to huge critical acclaim, and won two Grammies out of five nominations,
in the categories of Best Country Album and Best Country Collaboration with
Vocals for the duet. He returned to The White Stripes in 2005 for the album Get
Behind Me Satan, which spotted Jack playing less guitar to more focus on piano,
marimba and other instruments. The album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200
chart, which is considered as the band’s highest debut on the chart. Meanwhile,
he recorded and produced the first 45 record for his ex-mentor Brian Muldoon’s
family project, The Muldoons. Hunter and Shane, Muldoon’s two sons, front the
trio.
In addition to The White Stripes, Jack is also known as part of the rock band
The Raconteurs (known in Australia as the Saboteurs). In 2006, he embarked on
tours in support of the group’s debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers. In September
that same year, Jack and Meg had cameo roles in an episode of “The Simpsons.”
Currently, Jack is working with Garbage vocalist Shirley Manson on a string of
tracks for her debut solo album. With The White Stripes, he plans to release the
group’s next album, reportedly called Icky Thump, on Warner Bros., this year
2007.
Awards:
