Jack White
Raw Delta blues rewired through Detroit garage-rock fuzz
Jack White was born John Anthony Gillis in Detroit in 1975, the youngest of ten children. He started out as a drummer, played in local garage and punk bands such as Goober & the Peas, and worked as an upholsterer, running a small shop of his own. Early blues recordings by Son House and Blind Willie McTell reshaped his musical outlook, convincing him that intensity and feeling mattered more than polish or technical display.
In 1997 he formed The White Stripes with drummer Meg White, adopting a strict red, white and black visual identity and a stripped-down guitar-and-drums lineup. After The White Stripes (1999) and De Stijl (2000), the album White Blood Cells (2001) broke them internationally. Elephant (2003), recorded on vintage analog equipment, delivered “Seven Nation Army,” whose octave-shifted guitar riff became one of the most widely chanted melodies in the world. Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump followed before the duo disbanded in 2011.
White kept several projects running at once. The Raconteurs, formed in 2005 with Brendan Benson, offered a more traditional four-piece rock sound, while The Dead Weather, launched in 2009 with Alison Mosshart, let him return to the drum stool. He co-founded Third Man Records, opened its Nashville headquarters in 2009, and became a prominent champion of vinyl and analog recording. He also appeared in the film Cold Mountain and the guitar documentary It Might Get Loud.
His solo debut Blunderbuss (2012) reached No. 1 in the US, and Lazaretto (2014) showcased his ability to combine blues, country and hard rock. Later records such as Boarding House Reach (2018), Fear of the Dawn (2022) and No Name (2024) moved between experimental production and back-to-basics riffing. He has won twelve Grammy Awards, and in 2025 The White Stripes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The 10 greatest Jack White solos
- 1The White Stripes · solo by Jack White · 2003
- 2The White Stripes · solo by Jack White · 2007
- 3The White Stripes · solo by Jack White · 2005
- 4The White Stripes · solo by Jack White · 2001
- 5The White Stripes · solo by Jack White · 2007
- 6The Raconteurs · solo by Jack White · 2006
- 7Jack White · solo by Jack White · 2014
- 8Jack White · solo by Jack White · 2014
- 9Jack White · solo by Jack White · 2012
- 10The White Stripes · solo by Jack White · 2003
The sound
White plays with a deliberately raw, unvarnished attack, favouring cheap department-store guitars, small amps and fuzz that sounds close to breaking apart. His solos are short, violent bursts of slide, pitch-shifted squeals and bent notes rather than long technical runs. He uses a DigiTech Whammy both to drop his guitar an octave for bass-like riffs and to fire off shrieking leaps. Rooted in Delta blues phrasing and Detroit garage energy, his playing thrives on tension, abrupt dynamics and the sense that the performance could go off the rails at any moment.
- 1964 Airline “JB Hutto” (Montgomery Ward) (guitar) The red fiberglass-bodied guitar most associated with The White Stripes.
- 1950s Kay hollowbody (guitar) A cheap, rattly archtop used for early White Stripes material and slide work.
- 1915 Gibson L-1 acoustic (guitar) A vintage acoustic used for quieter, folk and blues material.
- Custom Gretsch models (guitar) Built for his post-Stripes work, often in striking custom finishes.
- Silvertone 1485 (amp) A Sears department-store amp that gave the White Stripes their gritty, compressed crunch.
- 1970s Fender Twin Reverb (amp) A loud, clean platform for his fuzz and pitch pedals.
- DigiTech Whammy WH-4 (effect) Set an octave down, it created the bass-like riff of “Seven Nation Army.”
- Electro-Harmonix Big Muff (effect) His main fuzz, responsible for the thick, woolly lead tones.
Covers
- Jolene, originally by Dolly Parton White turned the country classic into a desperate, howling garage-rock ballad.
- Death Letter, originally by Son House A tribute to his biggest blues hero, delivered with ferocious slide guitar.
- I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself, originally by Tommy Hunt (Bacharach–David song, famously recorded by Dusty Springfield) The Bacharach pop standard becomes a crushing, heavy blues-rock lament.
- Conquest, originally by Patti Page A 1950s pop song reinvented with mariachi trumpet and blazing guitar.
- Stop Breaking Down, originally by Robert Johnson A stomping, slide-heavy take that announced the duo's blues roots.
- St. James Infirmary Blues, originally by Traditional The old standard is stripped down to piano, drums and eerie atmosphere.
Timeline
- 1975 Born John Anthony Gillis in Detroit
- 1997 Forms The White Stripes with Meg White
- 2001 White Blood Cells breaks the band internationally; Third Man Records founded
- 2003 Elephant and “Seven Nation Army” released; appears in Cold Mountain
- 2005 Forms The Raconteurs with Brendan Benson
- 2009 Launches The Dead Weather; Third Man opens in Nashville; It Might Get Loud premieres
- 2011 The White Stripes officially disband
- 2012 Solo debut Blunderbuss reaches No. 1 in the US
- 2014 Releases Lazaretto
- 2025 The White Stripes inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Facts
- He was born John Anthony Gillis and was the youngest of ten children.
- He began as a drummer and still plays drums in The Dead Weather.
- He ran his own upholstery business before music became his career.
- The famous “Seven Nation Army” riff is played on guitar through an octave-down Whammy pedal, not on a bass.
- The song title “Seven Nation Army” came from his childhood mispronunciation of the Salvation Army.
- The White Stripes' visual identity was built on a strict red, white and black color scheme.
- In It Might Get Loud he built a crude one-string instrument from a plank, nails, a bottle and a pickup.
- He has won twelve Grammy Awards across his various projects.
- Third Man Records operates a record store with a recording booth and a vinyl pressing plant in Detroit.
- Blunderbuss, his first solo album, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.