Jack (XV) White filmography and biography

Date of birth: 9 July 1975, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Jack (XV) White biography

Jack plays guitar and sings the vocals in the band The White Stripes. So far they have released six albums: their self-titled debut -- "The White Stripes," "De Stijl," "White Blood Cells," "Elephant," "Get Behind Me Satan," and "Icky Thump."

White also sings and plays guitar in the band The Raconteurs (alternatively known as "the Saboteurs" in Australia). They have released two albums, "Broken Boy Soldiers" and newly released "Consolers of the Lonely."

White surprised fans by starting a third band, The Dead Weather, while The White Stripes and The Raconteurs were still active. White is primarily a drummer and vocalist for The Dead Weather, with Dean Fertita acting as guitarist. The Dead Weather released their debut album "Horehound" in 2009.

The White Stripes won three VMAs for the video for "Fell In Love With A Girl". They played two dates in Detroit in early August supported by The Strokes, and supported them when The Strokes played two dates in New York. He has written songs for the film Cold Mountain.

White has appeared in the movies Cold Mountain, Coffee and Cigarettes, The Fearless Freaks (2005) (TV), and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. He was one of the subjects of the documentary It Might Get Loud.

White is married to model Karen Elson and the couple has two children, Scarlet Theresa and Henry Lee.

In Rolling Stone's 2003 list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, White ranked 17th. Jack White was born John Anthony Gillis on 9th July 1975 into a musical, catholic family of 10 children in Detroit. He learned to play the guitar, drums and piano. He played in many bands growing up including The Go, Two Star Tabernacle. At 17 he was offered an apprenticeship at Muldoon Studio-an upholstery shop. During his time at Muldoon Studios, he formed a band with Brian Muldoon, the owner; they produced a 3-track single called The Upholsterers. Jack went on to have his own business, Third Man upholstery at about 21 years of age. Around this time he met Meg White, a bartender, and they married in 1996. On Bastille Day 1997, the story goes that Jack was practicing guitar when he sat Meg behind a drum kit and loved how she played, child-like. They formed the band there and then with Jack playing guitar and singing and Meg on drums, they named themselves The White Stripes, after Meg's favorite sweet-peppermints. With Meg's primitive drumming, their basic sound and their uniform appearance of red and white, they made an image of being innocent and child-like, also saying they were siblings. They were signed to Sympathy for the Record Industry, and in 1999 they produced a self-titled album. By this time they had ceased living together and divorced in the year their second album, De Stijl (2000) was made. The band remained intact and signed to a bigger label, V2 Records. Under this record label they made White Blood Cells and their current album, and most popular was the 2003 Elephant. Jack furthered this fame by appearing in blockbuster civil war movie Cold Mountain. He also faced a few mishaps -- including a car crash in which he broke a finger and had to have screws put into his hand, which canceled many gigs.

Jack (XV) White trivia

- Most recently, The White Stripes released the album "Icky Thump".
- In mid 2003, after filming Cold Mountain, he was involved in a car accident along with passenger and co-star Renée Zellweger. Renee was unhurt, but White wound up with a broken finger which coincidentally postponed his White Stripes tour.
- Likes to collect ancient human bones and taxidermic objects.
- Often refers to ex-wife and band mate, Meg White, as his sister. This was believed until their marriage and divorce certificates were posted onto the Internet.
- Produced Loretta Lynn's 2004 album "Van Lear Rose". He also played guitar on the album and duets with Loretta on the track "Portland Oregon."
- His relationship with Renée Zellweger (they met during the filming of Cold Mountain (2003)) ended over the Christmas holidays in 2004.
- He and wife, Karen Elson, a model for Prada and Banana Republic, were married in a canoe in the Amazon River in Brazil.
- 2003 Grammy Winner as White Stripes - Best Alternative Music Album - Elephant.
- 2003 Grammy winner - songwriter - Best Rock Song - Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes.
- Explains that the band is based around the number 3, and even calls himself Three Quid when in the UK.
- Has a side project titled the Raconteurs with friends. The band consist of Jack Lawrence, Brendon Benson, Jack White, and Patrick Keeler.
- Daughter, Scarlett Teresa White, born 2 May 2006 in Tennessee. Scarlett has Jack's legal last name, which has been White since his marriage to Meg White.
- He wanted to become a priest prior to be a musician.
- He married Karen Elson a month after they met.
- Met wife Karen Elson on the set of The White Stripes music video "Blue Orchid".
- Meg White was one of the bridesmaids at his wedding to Karen Elson.
- Jack and his wife, Karen Elson, became the parents of their second child, a boy named Henry Lee Gillis, on August 7, 2007.
- As one of an ensemble of musicians who paid homage to honoree Paul McCartney on the occasion of his "Gershwin Prize for Popular Song", White performed McCartney's classic ballad "Mother Nature's Son" at the White House (June 2, 2010). The festive ceremonies were presided over by President Barack Obama, no stranger to the music of The Beatles.

Jack (XV) White filmography