AMY SALISBURY
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Breaking up is hard to do, especially around Valentine’s Day. But usually, it’s for the best, right?
The signs of a relationship’s demise are rather apparent. Most notably, potential break ups are preceded by the couple not really doing anything together anymore. This presents an awkward situation for everyone.
People start asking questions, then the news breaks: the White Stripes, drummer Meg White and guitarist Jack White, officially break up.
During the middle of last week, the news traveled faster than a 15-year-old on Facebook, as the blog posts poured in. In a symbolic death march, articles popped up chronicling the best of the Stripes’ coupling and revealing that the brother-sister act was actually an amicable solution to the end of a four-year marriage (although that wasn’t much of a secret to begin with).
The White Stripes are best described—or, were best described, rather—as a raw, minimalist, aesthetically conscious duo. With hits like “Fell in Love with a Girl,” “Seven Nation Army” and “Blue Orchid,” the White Stripes gained a solid following over their 14-year existence. Their last album, “Icky Thump,” was released in 2007.
In 2009, Jack White joined and helped found The Dead Weather, a “compilation band” of sorts, with Allison Mosshart of Discount and The Kills, Jack Lawrence of The Greenhornes and The Raconteurs, and Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age. So it’s pretty easy to see where Jack White’s energy will go post-Stripes, especially since The Dead Weather performed at Coachella last year.
I should probably mention that Jack White is also in The Raconteurs with Fertita, starred in “rockumentary” “It Might Get Loud” in 2008 with members from U2 and Led Zeppelin and he has his own record label, Third Man. Feel free to call him busy.
Meg White is another story. According to the White Stripes’ still active website, her acute anxiety often changed the band’s plans. In 2007, the band’s fall U.S. tour was cancelled due to “health issues,” citing that White was unable to travel. After that, the band chose to cancel all 2007 tour dates post-September including a scheduled tour of the U.K.
She remarried in 2009—in Jack White’s backyard, no less. There has not been much news regarding Meg White’s musical present or future, but in mid-2010, Jack White reported to the Times of London that he suspected Meg White’s anxiety no longer existed.
Although the Stripes are no longer together, their musical contributions fail to present signs of dissolution. Their run as a band was significant enough for other artists to cover the most classic of Stripes songs.
Of course, break ups are never exactly fun. Fans of the band, however, may relish in their latest release, “Under the Great White Northern Lights,” a documentary and live album of the band’s last ever tour.