Jack White’s 10 most vicious feuds
Jack White is a prickly customer who is no stranger to getting locked into public feuds with his contemporaries. From bar brawls to online squabbles, White has never been far from a controversy over the last 20 years, and the musician has been forced to apologise more than most.
White is an analogue mind operating within the digital age, and he often finds himself as a lone voice in the modern music industry. In truth, the former White Stripes musician would be more comfortable if he existed within another era. Throughout the 21st century, White has encountered many artists who greatly anger him, and he’s dragged their names through the mud as a result of his emotions.
In 2007, White outlined his philosophy and told MusicRadar: “I’m drawn to the idea that it is a tool that can be manipulated and treated with either respect or disgrace. When I was young, I saw a clip of Louis Armstrong on TV playing a trumpet solo. It was such a ferocious and speedy trumpet solo, and when the song ended with a bang, he just slung the trumpet to one side.”
The White Stripes member added: “He didn’t throw it on the ground, but it looked like cracking a whip. He had this attitude like, ‘It doesn’t matter what I use. I don’t need this instrument. I just use it to express a certain feeling. I could express the same energy with a bottle of water.”
Those who don’t align with White’s specific view on music have faced his wrath, and his reasons for bad-mouthing other artists range from the personal to the bizarre.
10 vicious feuds involving Jack White
Von Bondies’ Jason Stollsteimer
Unlike any other feuds on this list, White’s rivalry with the Von Bondies’ Jason Stollsteimer landed him in a courtroom after things turned physical in 2003 at the Magic Stick club in Detroit. A press statement from the Von Bondies’ management claimed: “Stollsteimer was violently attacked by Jack White of the White Stripes without warning or provocation. White approached Stollsteimer during the concert, physically forcing him against the speakers, and began shouting”.
“Stollsteimer attempted to turn his head [to] face White but refused to engage in conversation. Visibly angered by Stollsteimer’s unwillingness to argue or fight, White spat into Stollsteimer’s face and punched him in the head and face repeatedly. White then forced Stollsteimer to the ground and continued his attack until White was restrained by several crowd members.”
Although White wasn’t sentenced to prison, he was given a $500 fine and ordered to pay $250 in court costs. Additionally, the musician was told not to contact Stollsteimer and instructed to attend anger management classes.
Foo Fighters
When technical difficulties marred his set at Fenway Park in Boston, White took to the mic and delivered a bizarre monologue to entertain the audience. He told the crowd how “most performers don’t use microphones anymore, you know,” and explained how singers often “don’t use microphones that have cords”. White also claimed Foo Fighters had a second guitar player “playing the same parts” to hide any mistakes.
White continued: “OK, I’m officially supposed to stop now because this is becoming a Kanye West-esque rant. Because apparently, nowadays, you aren’t allowed to speak to your own fans about anything, lest it be a rant”. He sarcastically added: “So forget ISIS, forget the war in the Middle East, forget any problems at home, forget gay marriage, forget everything you ever thought about everything. This not a rant. This is just me saying, HELLO CLEVELAND!”
The next day, White published a statement that said he had the “utmost respect” for Foo Fighters, and they responded by ridiculing his comment on Twitter with a meme. While this isn’t White’s most vicious moment, it’s a fine example of his mouth running him into trouble.
Ryan Adams
Although White was responsible for instigating the feud, he certainly comes across better than Ryan Adams in this debacle. Initially, the two musicians had a positive relationship. However, this changed after White became upset with Adams for changing the lyrics to a song by The White Stripes he covered. Their fall-out became public when Adams called him a “fucking ponce” during a 2002 interview with NME and claimed he turned down White’s role in Cold Mountain.
“Did little girl White talk back?” Adams bizarrely said. “What a fucking movie star. I don’t have a problem with him – he started it. I know that’s what you say in school. But what’s he doing on the Internet seeing what’s being said saying ‘I see you changed my lyrics’, Fucking ponce.”
Adams added: “Good luck to him in Romania. It’s supposed to be freezing. He must be hating it. You know they asked me if I wanted that movie role and I turned it down. Anthony Minghella asked me first. I was up for the part first and I turned it down. You know why? Because I didn’t see acting anywhere on my job application to be a rock f*cking star, you know. It’s true. That’s fucking fact.”
Lady Gaga
During an interview with Esquire in 2012, White used Lady Gaga to make a wider point about the state of the modern music industry and, as a result, was swarmed by her army of loyal fans. During the conversation, White spoke about the trend of celebrities changing their behaviour to appease the masses.
When the interviewer asked if Lady Gaga was an exception to the rule, White replied: “I don’t think she [Lady Gaga] lives it because it’s all artifice. It’s all image with no meaning behind it. You can’t sink your teeth into it. It’s a sound bite. It’s very of this age because that’s what people want.”
After his comments surfaced, White clarified his remarks. The former White Stripes member explained that he didn’t have a problem with Gaga’s music, but he was merely criticising her falsified image. He wrote on his website: “I’d like to address the recent tabloidesque drama baiting by the press in regards to Lady Gaga. I never said anything about her music, or questioned the authenticity of her songs in any way. I was in a conversation about the drawbacks of image for the sake of image, and that it is popular nowadays to not question an image in front of you, but only to label it as ‘cool’ or ‘weird’ quickly and dispose of it.”
Katy Perry
White has a clear set of rules which outline what he expects from musicians, and those who fall foul of his guidelines are committing an act of sin. During the same concert in which he questioned the Foo Fighters’ rock and roll credentials, he also claimed Katy Perry doesn’t sing live at her shows.
“So many microphones up here,” he told the audience. “You know, most performers don’t use microphones any more. 90% of proper singers don’t use microphones that have cords on them, and they don’t use microphones that have regular diaphragms anymore.” Although his voice muffles after this point, Perry’s name seems to leave his mouth as he comments on those who lip-sync. While White apologised to the Foo Fighters for his remark, he never expressed regret for his words about Perry.
The Black Keys
Out of all Jack White’s feuds, his battle with The Black Keys is his meatiest, and at one point, it seemed like it would last forever. Rumours circulated in 2012 that The Black Keys had been barred from using White’s recording studio. The following year, in leaked emails during White’s divorce hearing, he fumes about his children attending the same school as Dan Auerbach’s kids. “That’s a possible twelve fucking years I’m going to have to be sitting in kids’ chairs next to that asshole with other people trying to lump us in together,” White wrote. “He gets yet another free reign to follow me around and copy me and push himself into my world.”
In 2014, White took another swipe at The Black Keys and told Rolling Stone: “There are kids at school who dress like everybody else, because they don’t know what to do, and there are musicians like that too. I’ll hear TV commercials where the music’s ripping off sounds of mine, to the point I think it’s me. Half the time, it’s the Black Keys,” White said. “The other half, it’s a sound-alike song because they couldn’t license one of mine. There’s a whole world that’s totally fine with the watered-down version of the original.”
Later, White apologised for his comments in a statement, and things seemed to be cordial. However, The Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney later claimed White tried to fight him in a New York bar, which The White Stripes musician denied. Strangely, the drummer’s comment was retracted without a full explanation.
In an unexpected twist, White’s record label praised The Black Keys’ single ‘Lo/Hi’ in 2019 and wrote on Twitter: “More evidence that Nashville rock n’ roll is alive and well. Congrats on the new music, The Black Keys”. Their goodwill was replicated the following year when The Black Keys revealed they were now on friendly terms with the musician, and the war had finally ended.
Adele, Duffy & Lana Del Rey
As artists, Lana Del Rey, Duffy and Adele are incredibly different musicians who don’t share much in common apart from their gender. However, seemingly, that was enough for White to claim the only reason they all have careers today is due to another female singer-songwriter, Amy Winehouse. He told Rolling Stone in 2014: “Amy Winehouse: Did she invent white soul? Wearing a beehive? No. But she did something brand new and fresh, altogether as a package, and you see who’s in her wake, from the Duffys to the Lana Del Reys. Adele selling 20 million records? That would not have happened if Amy Winehouse was alive.”
Yet again, White found himself in the unfortunate position of writing an apology and posting on his website: “I wish no slight to the talents of Winehouse, Duffy, Lana del Rey, and Adele. All of whom are wonderful performers with amazing voices. I have their records and I hope for more success for them all as the years go on. They deserve all they’ve gotten. And, I also would love to state that I personally find it inspiring to have powerful, positive female voices speaking out and creating at all times in the mainstream, and all of those singers do just that, so I thank them.”
Meg White
For many years, Meg White and Jack White were joined at the hip with The White Stripes. They took pleasure in people not knowing whether they were siblings or lovers and worked in tandem. However, their relationship took a sour turn following the band’s break-up, and White again made a comment requiring him to later express remorse.
“She’s one of those people who won’t high-five me when I get the touchdown,” he told Rolling Stone in 2014. “She viewed me that way of ‘Oh, big deal, you did it, so what?’ Almost every single moment of the White Stripes was like that. We’d be working in the studio and something amazing would happen: I’m like, ‘Damn, we just broke into a new world right there!’ And Meg’s sitting in silence. I remember hearing Ringo Starr say, ‘I always felt sorry for Elvis, because in the Beatles we had each other to talk about what it felt like. Elvis was by himself.’ I was like, ‘Shit, try being in a two-piece where the other person doesn’t talk!’.”
In the same apology he issued to Del Rey, Duffy, and Adele, White also said sorry to his former partner in The White Stripes. He explained: “She is a strong female presence in rock and roll, and I was not intending to slight her either, only to explain how hard it was for us to communicate with our very different personalities. This got blown out of proportion and made into headlines, and somehow I looked like I was picking on her. I would never publicly do that to someone I love so dearly.”
