Researching Jack White

After moonlighting in several underground Detroit bands as a drummer, White founded the White Stripes with fellow Detroit native and then-wife Meg White in 1997. Their 2001 breakthrough album, White Blood Cells, brought them international fame with the hit single and accompanying music video "Fell in Love with a Girl". This recognition provided White opportunities to collaborate with famous artists, including Loretta Lynn and Bob Dylan. In 2005, White founded The Raconteurs with Brendan Benson, and in 2009 founded The Dead Weather with Alison Mosshart of The Kills. In 2008, he recorded "Another Way to Die" (the title song for the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace) with Alicia Keys, making them the only duet to perform a Bond song. White has released three solo studio albums: Blunderbuss (2012), Lazaretto (2014), and Boarding House Reach (2018), all of which have garnered wide critical and commercial success.

White is a board member of the Library of Congress' National Recording Preservation Foundation. His record label and studio Third Man Records releases vinyl recordings of his own work as well as that of other artists and local school children. Lazaretto holds the record for most first-week vinyl sales since 1991. White has an extensive collection of guitars and other instruments and has a preference for vintage items that often have connections to famous blues artists. He is a vocal advocate for analog technology and recording techniques.

White values his privacy and has been known to create misdirection about his personal life. He and Meg White married in 1996, but divorced in 2000 before the height of the band's fame. They then began calling themselves siblings. He was later married to model and singer Karen Elson from 2005 to 2013; they have a son and daughter. He currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.

Born in Cologne, White developed an interest in both football and music in his childhood, but initially chose footballing as a career. He played professionally for 6 years, then chose to play at an amateur level while pursuing a career in music. As a singer, his work was popular in his native country and other German-speaking nations, but the majority of his success came from his production work on international records.

In his music career, White has created 25 of his own records, and is credited on 2512 other records, including 870 production credits. Some of the most notable artists he has worked with are Laura Branigan, Barry Manilow, and David Hasselhoff. As most of his work was with English speaking musicians, White changed his name to make it easier to deal with English-speaking stars and their managers. In the international market, White’s productions have sold millions of copies, earning Music Recording Certification awards. Personally, White has won several European music awards for his own work and influence on the international music scene, including the German Golden Tuning Fork, and the RTL Group Lion.

White created several record labels throughout his career. White Records, Jack White Productions, and Gloriella Music, from which he continued to work with and produce for German and international artists. Currently, White Records and Gloriella Music are still operating, although without White in any operational sense.

Officially, White retired from the stage in 2014, with his last song being performed at the ‘The Summer Festival at the Lake’, hosted by Florian Silbereisen.