Jack White



Jack White (born John Anthony Gillis on July 9, 1975) is an American musician, producer, and occasional actor. He is most well known as the frontman of the band The White Stripes, though he has been in several bands and collaborated with various artists. On April 24, 2012, White released his debut solo album, Blunderbuss, which received wide critical acclaim. His second studio album, Lazaretto, was released on June 10, 2014.

2003

 * No. I know that's blasphemous when you are from Detroit.
 * On not being a fan of Motown
 * Scaggs, Austin (May 1, 2003), "Jack White". Rolling Stone.


 * It is the pursuit of happiness that brings us happiness, and not the happiness achieved.
 * A message he left on his website to his fans, dated September 18th, 2003

2004

 * It seemed like there was no control over it. I think certain things just popped. God was blessing us in telling us that certain things were going the way they were supposed to go.
 * Perry, Andrew (2004). "The White Stripes uncut" ObserverGuarduan.co.uk (accessed June 6, 2006)
 * On why 2004 was, up to that point, the best year of his life

2007

 * I'm always surprised when anything about the band connects. But I love the fact that it's hard for people to understand. We've said before that it's always been a great thing to get certain people to go away thinking, 'Oh dear, she can't play the drums!' 'Fine, if you think it's all a gimmick, go away!' It weeds out people who wouldn't care anyway.
 * On how they are able to "sell what is really an art concept" to a mass audience
 * Perry, Andrew (2004). "The White Stripes uncut" Observer Music Monthly (accessed June 19, 2007).


 * Frank Sinatra was dignified. We don't have a Frank Sinatra, or a Patti Page nowadays. What do we have? Ashlee Simpson instead of Patti Page! I mean, look at those people - like Paris Hilton! Who are all these skanks, man? Little girls are looking up to these girls, and it's so gross. Those girls have no dignity at all, and parents are letting their kids dress up like those skanks. But what else have they got? What are the other choices? Somebody had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to play guitar on Lindsay Lohan's album! She's another one of those 16-year-old actresses, and she's making an album! Like, 'NO!' Ha ha ha!
 * On why dignity and celebrity don't go hand in hand
 * Perry, Andrew (2004). "The White Stripes uncut" Observer Music Monthly (accessed June 19, 2007).

2009

 * I feel it, you felt it—we're all struggling with the trouble that this industry is in right now. And it's not about sales; it's about beauty and romance and a relationship to art that's turning invisible, and it's affecting people's perception of music. It's affecting whether they think of it as a viable art, because it's so fucking disposable. It's not about being modern or retro or a Luddite or being hopeful or pessimistic about the future; it's about clinging on to what makes sense of our lives, and what give our lives value, and what gives us a commonality and a feeling of belonging.
 * Aaron, Charles (June 2009), "Gang of 4". "Spin".

2010

 * I love him (Josh Homme) too much, and you can't hurt someone that you love that much ... unless you're family.
 * Rolling Stone video interview of The Dead Weather (beginning at 1:50) "The Dead Weather Muse on the Future of Music, Supergroup War", Rolling Stone, April 17, 2010. Retrieved on January 5, 2015.


 * I have three dads: my biological father, God and Bob Dylan.
 * From the article A Mysterious Case of the White Stripes from Rolling Stone Magazine.


 * Every time there's a list of the 100 greatest records of all time, all those albums were recorded in two days. Hardly any of them took a year, I'll tell you. In this day and age, I think it's important that people know that.
 * On why they recorded Elephant in two weeks
 * Perry, Andrew (2004). "The White Stripes uncut" Observer Music Monthly (accessed June 19, 2007).


 * At times, we [the White Stripes] almost ignore our own music. If we have the stage, we've gotta play Son House's music, because there's nobody to keep it alive. We don't wanna be known as the band that's conducting music instruction class. But that's all everyone talks about - why MTV's not good, why radio's not good. And the answer is really because whatever you want to call it - blues, country, folk - isn't around any more. That's why everyone's so mad, and I'm tired of it being my job to bring it back.
 * On why he tends to look to the past
 * Perry, Andrew (2004). "The White Stripes uncut" Observer Music Monthly (accessed June 19, 2007).


 * 'I'm excited by the band [White Stripes]. It really excites me. But it wouldn't excite me if there weren't those limitations, if we weren't living in that box, if we weren't trapped. Once that goes away, then I'll know that it's not worth doing it any more.'
 * Perry, Andrew (13 November 2004). "What's eating Jack?", The Observer. (accessed October 22, 2014)


 * Is this some kind of fucking radio promotion? What the fuck is this? Let me just say that if whatever said radio station tries to blacklist us for my comments about their balloons, I would like them to know I want a written apology tomorrow for interrupting my song.
 * AT The Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California after some balloons bearing a radio station's logo floated on stage.
 * Chonin, Neva (2005). "White Stripes huge but not bloated" SFGate.com (accessed June 19, 2007)


 * You can't do better than that.
 * On being hugged by Pope John Paul II during the pontiff's visit to Detroit in 1987
 * Dolon, John (July 2007), "The White Stripes: New Jack City" Blender Volume unknown: pp. 109


 * Well that's a polite thing to say but that's fucking ridiculous.
 * White's thought when his neighbor and mentor, Brian Muldoon, predicted that White would one day "take his music somewhere"
 * Male, Andrew (July 2007). "The Mojo Interview", MOJO. (164):48


 * I tend to be that guy, you know? When me and four friends walk into a restaurant and nobody else talks to the host, I say, “Yeah, it’s a table for five.” I don’t want to be that guy; I wish someone else would say something. But it always ends up being me, and I hate what comes with that. There’s a lot of baggage—ego and narcissism—that comes with leadership. It’s difficult to cope with at times.
 * On being the drummer (not the frontman) of the band Dead Weather
 * "This is not a Spinal Tap". GQ magazine. (accessed 2009-07-15)


 * It'll sometimes hit me in the middle of a song, like, who do I think I am standing up here...playing.
 * On having a calling to stand on stage and perform to people—as a priest or as a musician
 * Marc Maron (June 8, 2012). "Jack White". WTF With Marc Maron. Season 2. Episode 289. 21:48 minutes in.

On 'gimmicks'

 * I saw a review of our new album, and it said, "Every single component of the White Stripes is a gigantic lie." What does that mean? Have I sat down and said I was born in Mississippi? No. Did I say I grew up on a plantation and learned how to play guitar from a blind man? I never said anything like that. It's funny that people think me and Meg sit up late at night, in front of a gas lamp, and come up with these intricate lies to trick people.
 * From the article White on White from Rolling Stone Magazine


 * I'm not saying I came up with anything [laughs]. It's like people thinking we would be more real if we went onstage in jeans and T-shirts. How ignorant is that, to think that because they don't wear a suit onstage that someone is giving you the real deal? People do come and see us and think, "Look at all these gimmicks." Go ahead, man. Go ahead and think that.
 * From the article White on White from Rolling Stone Magazine
 * In response to a question about his relationship with Meg being false

About

 * I see him becoming one of the greatest record producers there is.
 * Loretta Lynn, after working with White on her album Van Lear Rose
 * Male, Andrew (July 2007). "The Mojo Interview", MOJO. (164):48


 * Jack is the showman—the brassy frontman and the snake-oil trader.
 * The Edge, from U2 "This is not a Spinal Tap". GQ magazine. (accessed 2009-07-15)


 * I would love to be Jack White — or maybe I want the peo­ple who like Jack White to also like me. But I”m the guy who writes beau­ti­ful music at 85 beat per minute.
 * John Mayer
 * Eells, Josh (June 21, 2012). "John Mayers Regrets." Rolling Stone. 1159:48-53


 * I wasn’t prepared. He had a big Mercedes, with a custom sound system, and he drove like hell through Nashville traffic, with Slim Harpo at defcon 1 volume.
 * Ry Cooder, music producer
 * Wilkinson, Alec (March 13, 2017), "JACK WHITE’S INFINITE IMAGINATION". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 6, 2017.