Jack White (occasionally Jack White III or just III) in Detroit, Michigan, is an American musician, record producer, and occasional actor best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist of the rock duo The White Stripes.
During the 1990s, White was a part-time musician in various underground bands in Detroit, while working by day as an upholsterer. After hearing his then wife, Meg White, play drums, the two formed the The White Stripes. The band went on to have a string of critically-acclaimed albums, with their third, White Blood Cells, catapulting them to international stardom. He was ranked #17 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." White's popular and critical success with the Stripes enabled him to collaborate as a solo artist with other renowned musicians, such as Loretta Lynn, Bob Dylan, and Lou Reed. In 2005, White became a founding member of the rock band The Raconteurs.
White has appeared in movies as a cameo and in acting roles. He is sometimes called eccentric, a charge stemming from his behavior and interests on and off the stage.Jack White was born John Anthony Gillis, and is the youngest of ten kids (seven sons, three daughters) born to Gorman and Teresa Gillis.a His father and mother worked for the Archdiocese of Detroit as the maintenance man and the Cardinal's secretary, respectively. Jack, like his six brothers, eventually became an altar boy, which landed him an uncredited role in the 1987 movie The Rosary Murders, filmed mainly at Holy Redeemer parish in southwest Detroit. At five he learned by himself how to play the drums, and as a child was a fan of classical music.
White began playing instruments (a drum) at the age of five. Although White grew up near Mexicantown, a lower-middle-class Hispanic neighborhood in southwest Detroit, his musical preferences were not those of his classmates, who listened to electronica and hip hop. White, as a teenager, was already listening to the blues and 1960s rock that would influence him in the White Stripes, Son House and Blind Willie McTell being among his favorite blues musicians.
On December 13, 2003, White was involved in an altercation with Jason Stolllsteimer (lead singer of the Von Bondies) at the Magic Stick, a Detroit club. White was charged with misdemeanor aggravated assault. He pleaded guilty to the charge, and was fined $750 (including court costs), and was sentenced to take anger management classes.
White had a brief but highly publicized romantic relationship with actress Renée Zellweger, whom he met during the filming of Cold Mountain in 2003. That summer, the couple were in a car accident, in which White broke his left index finger and was forced to cancel much of the summer tour. He posted the footage of his finger surgery on the web for fans. White and Zellweger's breakup became public in December 2004.