Seven Nation Army

Background:

Meg White is most famous as the drummer and occasional vocalist of multiple Grammy Award winning garage rock duo The White Stripes, which also consists of songwriter/guitarist/lead singer and former husband Jack White. Her simple drumming style frequently becomes a subject of debate, but Jack has repeatedly mentioned that this simplicity is essential to their group's childlike aesthetic.

With White Stripes, Meg has enjoyed over 3 million sales worldwide thanks to such successful records as “White Blood Cells” (2001) and the Grammy winnings “Elephant” (2003), “Get Behind Me Satan” (2005) and “Icky Thump” (2007). She has also scored numerous hit singles, most notably “Seven Nation Army” and the title track “Icky Thump,” which won the group Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal, respectively.

Although Jack is considered The White Stripes' main singer, Meg has sang leads on tracks like “In the Cold, Cold Night,” “Passive Manipulation,” “Who's a Big Baby” and “St Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air).” She also shared the lead vocals with Jack on the song “Well It's True That We Love One Another” from “Elephant.”

Detroit Girl

Childhood and Family:

Megan Martha White was born on December 10, 1974, in Detroit, Michigan. She married musician/songwriter John Anthony “Jack” Gillis on September 21, 1996, whom she met while she was working as a bartender in a local bar in the early 1990s. Jack has since taken her last name. The couple divorced on March 24, 2000.

In 2005, Meg served as maid of honor at the wedding of his ex-husband and British model Karen Elson.

Icky Thump

Career:

A former bartender, Meg White learned how to play drums from then husband Jack White, an ex-drummer with the band Goober and the Peas. The couple called themselves The White Stripes and started playing together in 1997 with Jack on vocal and guitar and Meg on drums. Their first public appearance was at the Gold Dollar in Detroit.

Signed to Italy Records, a small and independent Detroit-based garage punk label in 1998, The White Stripes released their debut single, “Let's Shake Hands,” in February and the second single “Lafayette Blues” in October. The third single “The Big Three Killed My Baby” was released in March 1999 under Sympathy for the Record Industry, an indie garage rock and punk label founded in 1998 by record industry anti-baron Long Gone John. Meg's debut album with her group, “The White Stripes,” followed on June 15, 1999, in which Jack also served as producer. The album received extensive critical plaudit, particularly in the U.K.

On June 20, 2000, “De Stijl” hit the music stores. Named after the Dutch art movement De Stijl, the album enjoyed some success in 2002 by becoming a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Magazine Top Independent Albums chart thanks to The White Stripes' mounting popularity. It has been regarded as a cult classic.

Meg and Jack achieved even more recognition with their third album, “White Blood Cells,” which was released on July 3, 2001 and went on to become a critical hit in both the UK and the United States. It reached No. 61 on Billboard's 200 and No. 55 in the UK album chart. The single “Fell in Love with a Girl” received a MTV Video Music nomination for Video of the Year.

Despite their increasing success, the pair did not sign to major label until “Elephant.”Released on April 1, 2003 on V2 Records, the album won a lot of critical acclamation upon its release and went double platinum and platinum in the UK and the United States, respectively. It also became the group's No. 1 hit in UK and their first Top 10 hit on the Billboard 200 (#6). “Elephant” won a 2004 Grammy for Best Alternative Album, while the lead single “Seven Nation Army” won a Grammy for Best Rock Song. The album also spawned such successful singles as the Burt Bacharach-penned “I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself,” “The Hardest Button to Button” and “There's No Home for You Here,” and consisted the track “In the Cold, Cold Night,” which featured Meg as the lead vocals.

Still in 2003, Meg made her acting debut, along side Jack, in a segment of the Jim Jarmusch anthology “Coffee and Cigarettes”called “Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil.” Later, she appeared on her own in the Australian-produced short “The Desealer” (2006), written and helmed by James Clayden. Also starring in the thriller was Luke Ryan.

Meg and The White Stripes resurfaced in June 2005 with the fifth studio album “Get Behind Me Satan.” It was a major success and earned the group their next Grammy Award in 2006. The lead single “Blue Orchid” received heavy airplay in the United States, became their second UK Top 10 hita nd reached No. 1 in Canada . It was followed “My Doorbell” and “The Denial Twist,” both of which were Top 10 in the UK.

The sixth album “Icky Thump” was released worldwide on June 19, 2007. The first album on Warner Bros. Records, it debuted at No. 1 in the UK Albums chart and No. 2 on Billboard's 200 and won Grammys for Best Alternative Album and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal for the title track. It also received Grammy nominations in the categories of Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package and Best Rock Song.

In late 2007, Meg, who was selected by comedian/director Bob Odenkirk to compose a drum theme for one of his characters in the 2006 film “Let's Go to Prison,” suffered an acute anxiety that forced the The White Stripes to call off their 18 tour dates and the reminder of their 2007 UK tour dates. The fully-recovered Meg resurfaced in June 2008 during an encore set at a Detroit show with The Raconteurs.

Awards:

• Grammy: Best Alternative Music Album, “Icky Thump,” 2008

• Grammy: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal, “Icky Thump,” 2008

• Grammy: Best Alternative Music Album, “Get Behind Me Satan,” 2006

• Grammy: Best Alternative Music Album, “Elephant,” 2004

• Grammy: Best Rock Song, “Seven Nation Army,” 2004