White Stripes biography

Jack's love affair with the blues was even more apparent in the band's second album, De Stijl. Released in 1998, the album was named after the abstract art movement led by Dutch artist Gerrit Rietveld. Stand-out tracks included the Son House cover, 'Death Letter'. In fact, Jack loved Son House's music so much that he once stated that his idea of an artistic goal would be 'to trick 15 year-old girls into singing Son House's lyrics'.

The White Stripes' big break was imminent but meanwhile Jack took to producing some of Detroit's most promising acts, including The Von Bondies (whose frontman Jack would fall out with a few years later) and The Soledad Brothers. Jack even dressed up as Uncle Sam infront of firing squad for the cover of the Soledad Brothers album sleeve.

Meg and Jack returned to the studio in 2001 to record what would become their breakthrough album, 'White Blood Cells'. The album's turn-it-up and take- no- prisoners production values made it an instant swamp-punk classic. Meg White's cymbal crashing was the perfect accompaniment to Jack's thrashing guitars and his tuneful yelping on tracks like 'Fell In Love With A Girl' and 'Hotel Yorba'. In short, it was a great, big sensual racket.

So when the release of the band's follow up album, 'Elephant', was announced 18 months later, the media attention surrounding the band had reached a hysterical peak. Suddenly, everybody was a Stripes fan - from Metallica to Elton John (natch). The album's guest singer, Holly Golightly said she wasn't surprised by its success. "They'd whipped up such a frenzy of interest it was always going to do reasonably well. It was a masterpiece." The album had a fuller, richer sound than previous releases - the previously bass-less group even drafted in some slap-happy bass on some tracks. The results bordered on the magical on tracks like 'Seven Nation Army' and 'Black Math'. Their primal, sweat soaked blues, founded on Meg's panzer-like drum attack, had mutated into something more sophisticated, with a curiously affecting cover of Dusty Springfield's 'I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself' thrown in for good measure.

The album went on to sell 100,000 copies in its first week of release in the UK, entering the charts at No.1. The album's success meant the band were more in demand than ever. Jack produced an album for country legend Loretta Lynn and was also approached by Iggy Pop to perform with a newly re-formed Stooges. Sofia Coppola directed the video to 'I Don't Know What To Do With Myself' which featured a scantily clad Kate Moss writhing around a pole in a lap dancing club. But Jack was unhappy with the final cut. "I wanted the dancer to be the ultimate metaphor for someone who doesn't know what to do with themselves, so they're selling themselves," explained Jack.

Meanwhile Meg had requested a cameo role in The Simpsons. Jack was making his acting debut as Georgia, a travelling musician in the American civil war movie 'Cold Mountain'. Jack's role was initially written as just a singing role but director Antony Minghella said Jack was so good he went away and wrote some lines for him. Then romance blossomed for Jack with Hollywood actress Renee Zellweger. The pair started dating after Jack gave her a human skull he'd bought from a Hollywood junk shop. "She knows a lot about skulls," said the clearly smitten singer.

The pair's relationship only really came to light after they were involved in a car crash in 2003 after which resulted in a compound fracture in Jack's hand. It meant the band had to cancel several live shows. By December of 2003 however Jack's gentlemanly persona took a turn for the worse when he was involved in public fisticuffs with Von Bondies frontman Jason Stollsteimer. Stollsteimer staggered away with a bruised and lacerated face. Jack was charged with aggravated assault. By the end of 2003 the White Stripes were the most newsworthy band in the world, thanks in no small part to their having experienced an annus horribilis.

It would be hard to call their 2005 follow-up 'Get Behind Me Satan' eagerly awaited, as the album didn't exist before March of that year. It was recorded in just two weeks and none of the songs had been completely written beforehand. Lead single 'Blue Orchid' was officially released on iTunes two weeks after it was finished.

The album was dominated by piano and bass with sparse, dramatic production trickery. It pushed into new territories, beyond the bluesy stomp of their previous albums. From country hoedowns, to deep soul and marimba driven rhythms, the arrangements were a drastic departure from their previous releases.

In the midst of a hectic touring schedule, Jack found the time to marry for the second time, to Karen Elson, a supermodel from Oldham, Lancashire. The two had first met when she appeared in the promo for 'Blue Orchid', and they were wed by a Shaman in South America, with Meg filling in duties as the maid of honour. Jack and his new wife set up home in Nashville, and soon had a baby girl, Scarlett (and Karen reportedly has another little one on the way, as it happens). However, Jack was not about to rest on his laurels or retreat into wedded family bliss at the expense of his music. Shelving the White Stripes temporarily, he took up a remarkable side-project in the shape of the Raconteurs, teaming up with Brendan Benson, another veteran of the Detroit rock scene. Most people would probably have been satisfied with one great musical project, but Jack had to be greedy and have another one. The Raconteurs first album, 'Broken Boy Soldiers', hit the shops in 2006, and White went off on tour.

While her erstwhile musical partner was opn the road with the Raconteurs, Meg retreated to her home in California, and says she spent the time wisely: 'Shotgun practice. You've got to keep up your skills.' What became clear by the 2007 release of their latest album, however, was that they had been keeping their musical skills nicely honed too. The album's name 'Icky Thump' is a bastardisation of the northern expression 'ecky thump' - Karen apparently said it a few times aound the home, and Jack liked the sound of it. 'Because of Karen's accent, I was saying,l 'Icky thump? Do you mean icky?' And she was saying 'No, ecky,' and I said, 'Well, I like icky better.' (How quaint - it's great when Americans forget that they're the ones with the accent, not the English.) Still, if Jack wanted to take liberties with a well-known expression, who can begrudge him, especially given the quality of the album?

'Icky Thump' picks up pretty much where 'Get Behind Me Satan' left off, exploring new avenues but underpinned throughout by that solid, pounding blues that is their hallmark. And as if to underline their love of all-things English, the pair of them are dresed on the cover in full Pearly King and Queen costumes - and it seems to work, somehow. Welcome experiments on the album include the usage of mariachi trumpets (on a lead-heavy cover of the Patti Page song, 'Conquest') and bagpipes. Whilst the duo are unlikely to take the summer 2007 festival stages with a full band of highland pipes, what those going to see them can be assured of is their trademark brand of frantic energy, Jack displaying his huge guitar and vocal talents, with Meg's throbbing, relentless drumming giving the whole thing its pulse. And although huge gigs like Birmingham's NEC and the 02 Centre (both booked for late 2007) may well have been something of a no-brainer, few could have foreseen that their album-promoting itinerary would also have taken in a small, intimate gig for a bunch of Chelsea pensioners in mid-June 2007, showcasing some of the new stuff and dusting off some of the old. Jack told reporters that he was moved by the whole experience, but one of the audience told local news that although he thought they were very good, they weren't really his cup of tea - he'd rather be listening to Katherine Jenkins! To be fair, that's probably something the twosome could live with, and as long as they continue to record and perform with such passion, they will continue to win plenty of other new fans.