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===1996–1999: Early years, formation and ''The White Stripes''=== In high school, [[Jack White|Jack Gillis]] (as he was then known){{sfn|Dunn|2009|p=166}} met [[Meg White]] at the Memphis Smoke—the restaurant where she worked and where he would read his poetry at [[open mic]] nights.{{sfn|Handyside|2004|p=22}} The two became friends, and began to frequent the coffee shops, local music venues, and record stores of the area.{{sfn|Handyside|2004|p=25}} By this time, Gillis was already playing drums with musician friends, including his upholstery apprenticeship mentor, Brian Muldoon.<ref name="WOW"/><ref>White, Jack. Interview in ''It Might Get Loud,'' Sony Pictures Classics, 2008.</ref> In 1994, he got his first professional job as the drummer for the Detroit [[cowpunk]] band [[Goober & the Peas]].<ref name=leahey>{{AllMusic | class=artist | id=0000128873 | label=Jack White Biography | first=Andrew | last=Leahey | access-date=October 10, 2014 }}</ref><ref name=McCOLLUM>McCollum, Brian (September 2003), "Red, White, and Cool", ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''. '''19'''(9):68–74</ref>{{sfn|Handyside|2004|p=31}} After dating for several years, Gillis and White married on September 21, 1996.{{sfn|Handyside|2004|p=32}}<ref name="White Stripes Marriage License">{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Jake |date=2002-05-23 |title=White Stripes Marriage License |url=http://gloriousnoise.com/2002/white_stripes_marriage_license |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Glorious Noise |language=en-US}}</ref> Contrary to convention, he took his wife's surname.<ref name="WOW" /><ref name=":5">{{cite web |last=Ivory |first=Jane |date=August 9, 2007 |title=Second Baby for Jack White and Karen Elson |url=http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Second_Baby_for_Jack_White_and_Karen_Elson_07595.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025071136/http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Second_Baby_for_Jack_White_and_Karen_Elson_07595.html |archive-date=October 25, 2008 |access-date=September 10, 2008 |work=Efluxmedia.com}}</ref> Shortly after, Goober & the Peas broke up, but Jack continued to play in other bands, such as the [[Garage punk (fusion genre)|garage punk]] band [[the Go]] (he played lead guitar on their 1999 album ''[[Whatcha Doin']]''), [[the Hentchmen]], and [[Two-Star Tabernacle]]. On [[Bastille Day]] 1997,<ref name="Klosterman2"/> Meg started learning to play the drums. In Jack's words, "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."<ref name=WOW/> The couple then became a band and, while they considered calling themselves Bazooka and Soda Powder,<ref name=eels/> they settled on the White Stripes.<ref name=handyside>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p371524|pure_url=yes}}|title= The White Stripes: Biography| access-date=July 30, 2014|last= Handyside|first= Chris|website= AllMusic}}</ref> Jack explained the name's origin: "Meg loves peppermints, and we were going to call ourselves the Peppermints. But since our last name was White, we decided to call it the White Stripes. It revolved around this childish idea, the ideas kids have—because they are so much better than adult ideas, right?"<ref name=":6">{{cite web|url=http://www.whitestripes.net/faq.php#thename|title=THE WHITE STRIPES|work=whitestripes.net|access-date=September 9, 2005|archive-date=August 30, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830022122/http://www.whitestripes.net/faq.php#thename|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2025}} From the beginning, they established certain motifs: publicly pretending to be brother and sister,<ref name=":7">{{cite episode | title = Newsnight | series = Newsnight | airdate = March 20, 2012 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dq0g8 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stubbins |first=Sinead |date=2020-03-16 |title=I Think About This a Lot: Jack and Meg White Pretending to Be Brother and Sister |url=https://www.thecut.com/2020/03/i-think-about-the-white-stripes-brother-sister-a-lot.html |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=The Cut |language=en}}</ref> outfitting their production in only black, red, and white,<ref name="Wilkinson">{{Cite magazine |last=Wilkinson |first=Alec |date=2017-03-05 |title=Jack White's Infinite Imagination |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/jack-whites-infinite-imagination |access-date=2025-03-11 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> and heavily using the number "three".<ref name="SWEET" /> White has explained that they used these colors to distract from the fact that they were young, white musicians playing "black music".<ref name="Mack">{{Cite journal |last=Mack |first=Kimberly |date=2015-03-15 |title="There's No Home for You Here": Jack White and the Unsolvable Problem of Blues Authenticity |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03007766.2014.994323 |journal=Popular Music and Society |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=176–193 |doi=10.1080/03007766.2014.994323 |issn=0300-7766 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> They were also noted for their lack of a bass player, and their general refusal to be interviewed separately.<ref name="changing" /><ref name="SWEET" /> The White Stripes had their first live performance on August 14, 1997, at the Gold Dollar bar in Detroit.<ref name=allmusicTWS>{{cite web|last=Leahey |first=Andrew |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p371524 |title=The White Stripes |website=AllMusic |access-date=December 31, 2011}}</ref> They began their career as part of the Michigan [[underground music|underground]] garage rock scene, playing with local bands such as [[the Hentchmen]], [[the Dirtbombs]], [[the Gories]], and Rocket 455.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maron |first=Marc |date=2012-06-18 |title=Episode 289 - Jack White |url=http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_289_-_jack_white |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=WTF with Marc Maron Podcast |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1998, Dave Buick—owner of an [[independent record label|independent]], Detroit-based, garage-punk label called [[Italy Records]]—approached the band at a bar and asked if they would like to record a single.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coombe |first=Doug |date=April 30, 2008 |title=Motor City Cribs (Metro Times Detroit) |url=http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=12835 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080502061913/http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=12835 |archive-date=May 2, 2008 |access-date=April 12, 2024 |website=[[Metro Times]]}}</ref> Jack initially declined, believing it would be too expensive, but he eventually reconsidered when he realized that Buick was offering to pay for it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://boogiechillindetroit.blogspot.com/2008/01/from-italy-with-love.html|title= From Italy With Love|access-date= August 26, 2008|last= Buick|first= Dave|date= January 3, 2008|work= BlogSpot.com}}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}</ref> Their debut single, "[[Let's Shake Hands]]", was released on vinyl in February 1998 with an initial pressing of 1,000 copies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=12835 |title=Motor City Cribs |access-date=August 26, 2008 |last= Coombe |first= Doug |work= [[Detroit Metro Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080502061913/http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=12835 |archive-date=May 2, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This was followed in October 1998 by the single "[[Lafayette Blues]]" which, again, was only released on vinyl with {{formatnum:1000}} copies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~brt/expecting/discography/lafayette.html|title= Lafayette Blues|access-date= August 26, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Dan |date=2010-10-21 |title=White Stripes single sells for more than £10,000 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/21/white-stripes-single |access-date=2025-03-11 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Perry |first=Andrew |date=14 November 2004 |title=The White Stripes uncut |url=https://www.theguardian.com/observer/omm/story/0,,1349947,00.html |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=www.theguardian.com |publisher=Observer Music Monthly}}</ref> In 1999, the White Stripes signed with the California-based label [[Sympathy for the Record Industry]].<ref name="Allmusic review"/><ref name=Wilkinson/> In March 1999, they released the single "[[The Big Three Killed My Baby]]", followed by their debut album, ''[[The White Stripes (album)|The White Stripes]]'', on June 15, 1999.<ref name="Allmusic review">{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r422015|pure_url=yes}}|title= The White Stripes|access-date= August 26, 2008|last= Handyside|first= Chris|work= AllMusic.com}}</ref> The self-titled debut was produced by Jack and engineered by American music producer [[Jim Diamond (music producer)|Jim Diamond]] at his [[Jim Diamond (music producer)#Ghetto Recorders|Ghetto Recorders]] studio in Detroit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.motorcityrocks.com/jim.htm|title= Jim Diamond|access-date= August 26, 2008|last= Sult|first= Ryan|work= MotorCityRocks.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113233400/http://www.motorcityrocks.com/jim.htm|archive-date= January 13, 2008}}</ref> The album was dedicated to the seminal Mississippi [[Delta blues]] musician [[Son House]], an artist who influenced Jack.<ref name=SWEET>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/mar/29/artsfeatures.popandrock |title= The Sweetheart Deal |access-date=October 23, 2008 |author=Cameron, Keith |date= September 8, 2005 |newspaper=The Guardian | location=London}}</ref><ref name=TOOMUCH>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/whitestripes/articles/story/5937502/too_much_too_soon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116033930/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/whitestripes/articles/story/5937502/too_much_too_soon |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 16, 2009 |title= Too Much Too Soon|access-date=October 23, 2008|author= Strauss, Neil|date= August 1, 2002 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> The track "Cannon" from ''The White Stripes'' contains part of an [[a cappella]] version, as performed by House, of the traditional American [[gospel blues]] song "[[John the Revelator (Blind Willie Johnson song)|John the Revelator]]". The White Stripes also covered House's song "[[Death Letter]]" on their follow-up album, ''[[De Stijl (album)|De Stijl]]''. Looking back on their debut during a 2003 interview with ''[[Guitar Player]]'', Jack said, "I still feel we've never topped our first album. It's the most raw, the most powerful, and the most Detroit-sounding record we've made."<ref>Fox, Darrin, "White Heat", ''Guitar Player'', June 2003, p. 66</ref> AllMusic said of the album: "Jack White's voice is a singular, evocative combination of punk, [[Heavy metal music|metal]], blues, and [[Hillbilly|backwoods]] while his guitar work is grand and banging with just enough lyrical touches of [[Slide guitar|slide]] and subtle [[Guitar solo|solo]] work... Meg White balances out the [[fret]]work and the fretting with methodical, spare, and booming [[cymbal]], [[bass drum]], and [[Snare drum|snare]]... All [[DIY punk ethic|D.I.Y.]] punk-country-blues-metal singer-songwriting duos should sound this good."<ref name="Allmusic review" /> At the end of 1999, the White Stripes released "[[Hand Springs]]" as a 7" split single with fellow Detroit band [[the Dirtbombs]] on the [[B-side]]. 2,000 copies came free with the pinball fanzine ''Multiball''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sokol |first=Cara Giaimo and Zach |date=2013-02-15 |title=The White Stuff: A Timeline of Almost Every Jack White Gimmick |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-white-stuff-a-timeline-of-almost-every-jack-white-gimmick/ |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref>
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