Jack White

Jack White was born John Anthony Gillis 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.