Well, it’s over. After years of speculation, the brilliant rock-and-roll band The White Stripes are calling it quits. The White Stripes duo, Jack and Meg White, are breaking up as a band (many years after breaking up as a couple). There’s no artistic difference or animosity between the two, and they’re both in fine health physically. Instead, apparently, they just decided that it was time for The White Stripes to be over with in an attempt to preserve what made the band so special over the last 13 or so years of melting faces off with blues-based rock from their home base in Detroit, Michigan.
Reads the official statement on the band’s website: “The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful.”
Time to mark another band off my list of bands I’d kill to see live, at least for now. Still, Jack will continue to be around, as he’s in several other bands and is a prominent guest musician with a variety of other artists. He may not have The White Stripes anymore, but he’s still got The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. I’m not sure what Meg is going to do, aside from wait around until it’s time for the inevitable reunion tour.
Tags: music, Jack White, Meg White, The White Stripes, The White Stripes break up, Third Man Records, The White Stripes have broken up, band break-ups, The White Stripes split, music news, rock-and-roll music, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, Jack and Meg end The White Stripes, Detroit, Michigan