The weird story of how Jack and Meg White of the White Stripes tricked everyone into thinking they were brother and sister and not married.
Whatever happened to Meg White!
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It was a frequent site at the White Stripes concerts to see Jack White introduce his bandmate as “big sister Meg.” The White Stripes formed in the late 90’s at a time when Rock N’ Roll was kind of in a weird spot. The dust had settled on the alternative rock movement of the early 90’s and while there still were bands on the charts from that era, it was a far cry from their heyday. Most of the popular rock songs of the time were considered pop-rock and what some would call post-grunge. The White Stripes seemed like a breath of fresh air while also being a throwback. A band that paid homage to the blues. The White Stripes would go on to heavily influence the revival of garage rock in the late 90’s and the early 2000’s with band’s like the the Black Keys and the Strokes following in their footsteps.
But from day one Jack and Meg concocted a story that they were brother and sister, despite the fact that they were married. So how did they get exposed out and why did they come up with this idea in the first place? Stay tuned to find out.
Hailing from Detroit, Jack White was originally born John Gillis. As a teenager he attended a mostly ethnically mixed school. Hip hop was popular with the kids at the school he attended, but Jack didn’t count himself a fan, instead focusing on mastering the guitar as his influences included Led Zeppelin, Captain Beefheart, Pink Floyd, The Doors and countless old time blues musicians, Obviously he became the odd man out at school. And music wasn’t Jack’s first calling in life as he would reveal to Rolling Stone, that he initially had several ideas of what he wanted to do after graduating including entering the priesthood and possibly joining the marines
There was one moment though in White’s life that he can vividly remember that turned him onto the Blues. It would be a 1993 Radiohead Gig when he heard Son House’s John The Revelator played as the intro music, and it was something caught his attention. Eventually getting his hands on a copy of Son house’s House of the Father Of Folk Blues LP from 1965, the stripped down, yet effective sound caught Jack’s ear. He would reveal in the film ‘It Might Get loud’ with Jimmy Page and U2’s the Edge
“I didn’t know you could do that, just singing and clapping,” “It meant everything. I heard everything disappearing.”
“It was as if someone, with a single blow of the axe, had opened up the world to me… After that, my life received meaning.” Soon afterwards, Jack started to pick up other blues albums. And Apart from playing guitar, he also played drums and was into poetry. .He would also attend open mic nights at a local restaurant called Memphis Smoke, where he met future bandmate and wife Meg White who worked there as a waitress. The two hit it off immediately and began dating getting eventually married on September 21, 1996. John Gillis became Jack White taking Meg's last name.
Then on Bastille Day in 1997, everything changed. Meg White sat down and played drums for the first time on Jack’s kit. White would tell Rolling Stone in 2008
"When she started to play drums with me, just on a lark, it felt liberating and refreshing. There was something in it that opened me up" he'd remember.
Soon afterwards the pair formed a band and threw around a few names to call themselves including Bazooka and Soda Power. Thankfully, the band choose the White Stripes due ot the fact there last name was White and that Meg loved peppermints.After they formed the band, the two concocted a story of them being brother and sister, but why go through all this trouble of doing that. Well White would tell Rolling Stone in 2005 that the lie forced people to take them more seriously
"If we had presented ourselves in another fashion… how would we have been perceived, right off the bat? When you see a band that is two pieces, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, you think, 'Oh, I see…
"When they're brother and sister, you go: 'Oh, that's interesting.' You care more about the music, not the relationship." he'd say.
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