From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Meg White
White performing c. 2002
Background information
Birth name	Megan Martha White
Born	December 10, 1974 (1974-12-10) (age 35)
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, blues-rock, punk blues, garage rock
Occupations	Musician, Drummer
Instruments	drums, vocals, timpani, organ, guitar
Years active	1997–present
Associated acts	The White Stripes
Website	WhiteStripes.com

Megan Martha "Meg" White (born December 10, 1974) is an American drummer best known as one half of the Detroit rock duo The White Stripes, with her ex-husband Jack White.

Early life

Meg White was born in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan to Walter Hackett White, Jr. and Catherine White. She grew up in the Detroit area with her parents and sister Heather.

Career

Jack White spent much of the 1990s hopping from band to band. In 1997, Meg first tried playing 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." The two then began calling themselves The White Stripes and soon played their first gig at the Gold Dollar in Detroit.^[1] In keeping live performances to three basic elements, Jack did the guitar and vocal work while she played drums.^[2]

Jack White has declared her to be the key component in the White Stripes' sound. In reference to her "primal" approach to drumming, she remarked, "That is my strength. A lot of drummers would feel weird about being that simplistic."

Though Jack White usually sings the lead vocals, Meg White sings lead on "In the Cold, Cold Night", from the band's fourth album, Elephant; "Passive Manipulation", from the band's fifth album, Get Behind Me Satan; "Who's a Big Baby", the B-side to "Blue Orchid"; and "St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air)", from the band's sixth album Icky Thump. Both Meg and Jack White sing vocals on the tracks "Hotel Yorba" and "This Protector" from White Blood Cells, "Rated X" from the "Hotel Yorba" single, "Well It's True That We Love One Another" on Elephant, and "Rag and Bone" from Icky Thump. The first time Meg sang along on a White Stripes record was with Jack on "Your Southern Can is Mine" from De Stijl.

White has also appeared on the cover of Whirlwind Heat's single "Pink", in a Detroit Cobras music video "Cha Cha Twist" as Little Red Riding Hood, and appeared with Jack White in a segment of Jim Jarmusch's 2003 film Coffee and Cigarettes.

Jack and Meg White guest starred on The Simpsons in an episode titled "Jazzy and the Pussycats", which first aired on September 17, 2006.^[3] She has done some modeling for Marc Jacobs' 2006 Spring line.^[4] Two of her pictures appeared in the March 2006 issue of ELLE.

Meg White was chosen by Bob Odenkirk to compose a drum theme for one of his characters in the film Let's Go to Prison, which was released in November 2006.^[5]

Meg White also has a song dedicated to her by Ray LaMontagne entitled "Meg White", which appears on LaMontagne's most recent album, Gossip in the Grain.

Personal life

In the early 1990s, Meg White worked as a bartender at Memphis Smoke, a bar in downtown Royal Oak (a Detroit suburb), where she first met musician/songwriter John Anthony "Jack" Gillis. They were married on September 21, 1996^[6] and were divorced on March 24, 2000.^[7] In his characteristically unorthodox fashion, Gillis took her last name.^[8]

White is, by her own admission, "very shy" and gives few interviews. Because of this, when the band is interviewed, Jack White will do most of the talking. She guards her privacy in a manner that she identifies with Bob Dylan, whom she admires.^[9] In her time away from the band Meg enjoys photography and amateur taxidermy. Animals are also a motif in her photography (mainly album covers and music videos). Among those photographed with her are a snake, rats (the video for "Hotel Yorba" and the back cover of Elephant), a cow, rabbits,^[10] and raccoons (the 7 inch cover of the "Denial Twist single").

On September 11, 2007, the White Stripes were forced to cancel 18 tour dates due to Meg White's acute anxiety.^[11] The following day, said problems caused the duo to cancel the remainder of their 2007 UK tour dates as well.^[12] She recovered and appeared onstage during an encore set at a Detroit show with The Raconteurs in June 2008.

On May 3, 2009, The Detroit News confirmed that Meg White was engaged to Jackson Smith, son of Fred "Sonic" Smith and Patti Smith. According to The Detroit Free Press, they live together in White's Detroit home and became engaged earlier this year. They were married on May 22, 2009 at Jack White's home in Nashville, in a double ceremony with Jack's Raconteurs/Dead Weather bandmate Jack Lawrence and his fiancee.^[13]

Equipment

White with her drum kit in 2007.

Meg White uses a red Ludwig drum kit with a red and white peppermint swirl on the resonant sides of the toms and bass drum. On the Icky Thump tour the bass drum head design was switched to a button, and during the From the Basement: The White Stripes recordings it was switched to an image of Meg's hand holding an apple (from the Get Behind Me Satan cover). She also uses a pair of Paiste 14" Signature Medium Hi-Hats, a Paiste 19" Signature Power Crash, and a Paiste 22" 2002 Ride, as of 2006.

References

• Sullivan, Denise (2004). The White Stripes: Sweethearts of the Blues. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-805-2 Google Print (accessed June 1, 2006)

External links

• White Stripes official website
• Meg White at the Internet Movie Database
• "The White Stripes Interview", Meg interviews Jack for Amazon.co.uk in time for the release of Get Behind Me Satan

From Wikiquote

Megan Martha White (born December 10, 1974) is the drummer of the rock band The White Stripes.

Sourced

• I was able to afford a car that didn't break down every five minutes.
  • Epstein, Daniel (2004). "The White Stripes - Coffee and Cigarettes" SuicideGirls.com (accessed June 6, 2006)
  • When asked what she did with her first royalty check

• We never really cared about all the things that other people cared about, you know? Like, people recognizing me on the street never interested me. I've always been kind of suspicious of the world, anyway, so it's pretty easy for me to live in my own little world.
  • Jarmusch, Jim (2003). "The White Stripes: getting to know the most interesting band in music today" FindArticles.com (accessed June 6, 2006)

• Actually I don't. I've never played with a bass player before, so I wouldn't even know. It wouldn't feel like it's missing, I just think it's normal ... I prefer it that way so I only have to concentrate on Jack.
  • Loder, Kurt. "The White Stripes - At the Zoo with Kurt Loder" MTV.com (accessed June 6, 2006)
  • When asked does she miss having a bass player in the band

• We were like a moth right next to the flame. It's like, do any more and you go down. We were so tired. One final lap, and then have a rest.
  • Perry, Andrew (2004). "The White Stripes uncut" ObserverGuardian.co.uk (access June 6, 2006)
  • On deciding to end the Elephant tour when they did

• I wasn't brought up with any religion, actually.
  • Gross, Terry (2005) Fresh Air: "A White-Striped Trip: 'Get Behind Me Satan'" NPR.org (accessed June 6, 2006)

• We've never had problems. We love each other, understand each other, and get past anything.
  • On her relationship with Jack White
  • Frampton, Scott (July 2007), "Jack & Meg White". Esquire. 148 (1):118-119

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

Meg White

• Official White Stripes website