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The White Stripes
The White Stripes
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Detroit minimalist rock duo (specifically, southwest Detroit minimalist rock duo) the White Stripes -- Jack White, guitar and vocals, Meg White, drums -- formed in 1997 (Bastille Day, to be precise) with the idea of making simple rock & roll music. From the red-and-white peppermint candy motif of their debut singles, self-titled album, and stage show to their on-the-surface rudimentary style, they succeeded wildly and immediately with that mission. Their first recordings were a mix of garage rock, blues, and the occasional show tune. In frontman Jack (a former drummer for Detroit country outfit Goober & the Peas), the White Stripes have a formidable songwriter, guitar player, and vocalist capable of both morphing between styles and changing the musical styles themselves; ranging from the folk blues of Blind Willie McTell to soaring Kinks-esque pop and narrative pop tunes worthy of Cole Porter and into deepest Captain Beefheart territory within the span of 15 minutes is not an uncommon listening experience with either the White Stripes live show or on record. In drummer Meg, the White Stripes have a minimalist percussionist who seems to sense intuitively exactly when to not play. The White Stripes are grounded in punk and blues, but the undercurrent to all of their work has been the aforementioned striving for simplicity, a love of American folk music, and a careful approach to intriguing, emotional, and evocative lyrics not found anywhere else in the modern punk, or garage rock (or among postmodern "blues" practitioners such as Jon Spencer, for that matter).

While they may have sprung from the Detroit rock scene, the White Stripes quickly gained a national following after two successive tours with indie rockers Pavement and Sleater-Kinney in 1999 and 2000. The White Stripes released their second LP, De Stijl, in 2000 and it further spread the group's reputation. They followed its release with successful tours of Japan and Australia and entered the Memphis studio of renowned producer Doug Easley for 2001's White Blood Cells. The album was a critical smash and the White Stripes soon found themselves, along with the Strokes and the Hives, at the forefront of the new wave of rock & roll bands poised to take over the world. The band certainly did their best to achieve world domination, appearing on Late Night with David Lettterman, being written about in Time, The New Yorker, and Entertainment Weekly, playing the MTV Movie Awards, and having their video for "Fell in Love with a Girl" in heavy rotation on MTV. They also made the tough decision to jump to a major label; White Blood Cells was reissued on V2 in January of 2002 and their first two records followed suit in June. The White Stripes truly became big time rock stars when their "Fell in Love with a Girl" clip was nominated for four MTV Video Awards, including Best Video of the Year (alongside Eminem and *NSYNC!), Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects in a Video, and Best Editing in a Video. That summer the group also played four triumphant shows with the Strokes, two apiece in the bands' respective hometowns. In spring 2003 their fourth full-length, Elephant -- recorded in two weeks at London's Toerag Studio and dedicated to "the death of the sweetheart" -- arrived to nearly unanimous critical acclaim.

In 2005 the Stripes returned with Get Behind Me Satan, a dizzyingly diverse album that spanned disco-metal and light, marimba-driven pop and was written and recorded in two weeks that spring. While touring that year, the band covered Tegan and Sara's "Walking with a Ghost," which they released as a single at the end of 2005. That year, Jack White and his wife, model/singer Karen Elson, moved to Nashville, TN. White also formed the Raconteurs with Brendan Benson and the Greenhornes' Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, and spent much of 2006 touring in support of the group's debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers. Early in 2007, the White Stripes announced they were working on a new album; Icky Thump, which included the first-ever Stripes songs with bagpipes and mariachi horns, was recorded in three weeks at Nashville's Blackbird Studio and was released that summer. ~ Chris Handyside, All Music GuideMore

Official Profile

The White Stripes
Detroit minimalist rock duo (specifically, southwest Detroit minimalist rock duo) the White Stripes ...
Songs: 3, Videos: 3, Playlists: 2, Blog Posts: 1, Polls: 0, Battles: 0

Most Popular Music Videos (3)

Icky Thump (Video)
(Duration: 4:13)
Sep 28th, 3:39pm
Conquista (Video)
(Duration: 3:25)
Oct 9th, 3:33am
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Fan Comments

Aug 17th, 4:50am
i just preordered the new chevelle album at http://chevelle.skyroo.com/ they sent me 3 MP3s and i'm getting the album early to boot!
Jun 10th, 6:36am
Awesome band The White Stripes are one of my favorites
May 25th, 9:18pm
Thank for the request....
May 8th, 9:21pm
Apr 24th, 11:25am
hello friend like page
Apr 23rd, 4:23pm
HEyyyy if you are into the White Stripes you should totally check out Cage the Elephant!! They are amazing and have a sick new single check out the video

http://myplay.com/video-player/cage-the-elephant/aint-no-rest-for-the-wicked
Apr 1st, 6:56am
If you White Stripes fans were into Jack's work with Loretta Lynn, give Miranda Lambert a listen!

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Miranda Lambert
Mar 23rd, 5:40pm
you guys are awesome!!
Mar 19th, 3:42pm
Wow...thanks for friending me....been following you guys since the beginning...I appreciate your eclectic style...really dig you....and Meg is BE AUT TI FUL!
Dec 6th, 6:17am
u guys kik ass keep on rockin! pc XD