Megan Martha White (born December 10, 1974) is an American musician who was the drummer and occasional vocalist of the rock duo the White Stripes. A key artist of the 2000s indie and garage rock movements, she is noted for her minimalist drumming style and reserved public persona.
Born and raised in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, White met Jack Gillis in the early 1990s and the two married in 1996, with Jack taking her surname. She began playing the drums in 1997 and formed the White Stripes with Jack that year. They divorced in 2000 but continued performing at her insistence, presenting themselves to the music press as siblings. Their 2001 breakthrough album, White Blood Cells, brought them international fame. This, along with the band's next three albums, established White as a key artist of the decade's rock revival. White also had a short acting and modeling career, appearing in the 2003 film Coffee and Cigarettes and in a 2006 episode of The Simpsons.
While the White Stripes were touring in support of their 2007 album, Icky Thump, she suffered a bout of acute anxiety, leading to cancellation of the remaining dates. During the following hiatus, she appeared at a Raconteurs concert and in the 2009 documentary Under Great White Northern Lights. She was also married to Jackson Smith from 2009 to 2013. After a lengthy hiatus, the White Stripes disbanded in 2011 and White ceased performing. Her last media appearance was in 2009, and she has not been active in the music industry since.
Her drumming style polarized critics at first but has since become highly regarded. She has maintained an elusive media image and has given very few interviews, which she puts down to shyness and a reclusive nature. With the White Stripes, she won six Grammy Awards from twelve nominations. She has appeared on several listicles, including Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time" in 2015. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the White Stripes in 2025.
Early life
Megan White was born in the upper middle-class suburb Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan on December 10, 1974, to Catherine and Walter Hackett White Jr. She was the youngest of three, with an age gap of ten years.[1] The family was not religious and she described growing up as "pretty normal".[2][3] White attended Grosse Pointe North High School.[4] After graduating, she pursued a career as a chef.[5]
White worked at a restaurant in downtown Royal Oak where she met the budding musician Jack White, then known as Jack Gillis and a fellow high school senior from Mexicantown in Detroit.[5] They formed a relationship and married in September 1996, with Jack taking her last name.[6]
Career
Formation of the White Stripes and beginnings (1997–2000)
In 1997, White began learning to play the drums using Jack's drumkit.[5][7] Jack recalled that playing with White was "liberating and refreshing", opening up "something" within him.[8] The two then formed the White Stripes, where they stuck to certain motifs: They presented themselves as siblings to an unknowing public,[9] and kept to a monochromatic theme, dressing only in red, white, and black.[10][11] They played their first gig at the Gold Dollar in Detroit,[12] and achieved popularity in Michigan's undergroundgarage rock scene, opening for and playing with established local bands such as Bantam Rooster and the Dirtbombs, among others.[5][13] In 1998, they were approached by Dave Buick of the Detroit-based independent record labelItaly Records, who offered to pay for their debut single. "Let's Shake Hands" was then released in February 1998.[14][15]
White at Club Shinjuku Jam, Tokyo, in 2000
In 1999, the band signed with the California-based label Sympathy for the Record Industry, and released their self-titled debut album.[16]AllMusic said that White's drumming "balances out the fretwork and the fretting with methodical, spare, and booming cymbal, bass drum, and snare".[17] Following their divorce in 2000,[18] White insisted that they keep the band going.[19] Their second album, De Stijl, was released that same year.[20]Rolling Stone's Jenny Eliscu praised White's drumming, saying it "proves that you don't need bombast to make a blues explosion".[21] It became a sleeper hit, after the White Stripes gained popularity in 2002, reaching 38 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart in 2002.[22] White also played drums for Soledad Brothers on their self-titled debut album (2000).[3]
Mainstream breakthrough and solo career (2001–2006)
The White Stripes rose to widespread recognition in 2001 with the release of their album White Blood Cells. Meg shared vocals with Jack on the tracks "Hotel Yorba" and "This Protector", and also on the Loretta Lynn cover "Rated X", featured as the B-side to "Hotel Yorba".[23] It was their last album to be released with the Sympathy for the Record Industry label. White Blood Cells would have a major label re-release with V2 Records in 2002, which brought them to the forefront of the garage rock revival and made them one of the most acclaimed bands of the year.[24] Chris Deville of Stereogum praised White for bashing "the bejesus out of her drums" and called the pair "too compelling for the rest of the world to ignore".[25] The album included the groundbreaking single "Fell in Love with a Girl", which won them three awards at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards.[26] Also in 2002, the band performed at the MTV Movie Awards and on Saturday Night Live.[27][28]
The White Stripes released their fourth studio album, Elephant, through V2 Records and XL Recordings in 2003. The album was acclaimed, and considered by AllMusic to be the band's best work.[16][29] Their continued success helped establish Meg and Jack as key figures of 2000s rock, and Elephant, along with White Blood Cells, were included on numerous editions of Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.[30][31] AllMusic writers described White's drumming on Elephant as "hypnotic" and "explosively minimal", and Bram Teltelman of Billboard characterized it as "simple but effective".[32][33]Elephant's first single, "Seven Nation Army", became the band's signature song and a sports anthem.[16] The album's third single, "The Hardest Button to Button", features what journalist Alexis Petridis considered to be some of Meg's best drumming.[34] Additionally, the track "In the Cold, Cold Night" features Meg singing lead for the first time.[35] Tom Breihan of Stereogum described her voice as "magnetic",[36] and Andrew Katchen with Billboard wrote that she sounded "delicate and sweet".[37]The Guardian deemed the songs "In the Cold, Cold Night" and "Seven Nation Army" to be among the greatest songs made by the band.[34] The album won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album and "Seven Nation Army" won the Grammy for Best Rock Song.[38] That same year, she appeared on the song "I'm So Glad" for Soledad Brothers.[3]
White made her film debut appearing with Jack in Jim Jarmusch's 2003 film Coffee and Cigarettes.[39] They star as fictionalized versions of themselves in the segment "Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil", which expands on Nikola Tesla and White Stripes motifs such as childhood innocence.[40] She described her acting debut as "easier than I thought it was gonna be," and said she became "more confident than I used to be, but not much."[41] Jarmusch believed that "she could have been a huge silent-movie star, just from her face."[39] That same year, White began appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien as a recurring performer.[42] In 2004, she starred in the band's first music film Under Blackpool Lights, which was shot entirely on super 8 film.[43] Jamie Russell of BBC described her performance as "orgasmically pounding the drums" and "exhilarating".[44] White appears on the cover of Whirlwind Heat's single "Pink" (2004) wearing a bunny costume; the photo was taken while the White Stripes and Whirlwind Heat toured together in Japan.[45] Also in 2004, White appeared in an episode of Pancake Mountain and played Little Red Riding Hood in the music video for "Cha Cha Twist" by the Detroit Cobras.[46][47]
The White Stripes's fifth album Get Behind Me Satan saw the pair experimenting on their sound, with White using percussion bells, maracas and tambourines. Critically acclaimed, it was released in 2005 and won the band their second Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.[48] She performed lead vocals on "Passive Manipulation", for which Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone described her vocals as "chilling" while Matthew Murphy of Pitchfork thought that the song "begs the gentle suggestion that Meg not be allowed to sing lead".[49][50] She appears in the documentary The Fearless Freaks (2005), which chronicles the rock band the Flaming Lips.[51] She also performed with the White Stripes in the 2005 pilot episode of From the Basement.[52]
White next embarked on a modeling career, appearing in Marc Jacobs' 2006 Spring line and the March 2006 issue of ELLE.[53] She was chosen to compose a drum theme for the film Let's Go to Prison (2006) by director Bob Odenkirk; against Odenkirk's wishes however, the studio removed it from the film.[54] The White Stripes guest starred on The Simpsons in an episode titled "Jazzy and the Pussycats", which first aired on September 17, 2006.[55] White had previously expressed interest in a Simpsons role, saying: "A guest appearance would be amazing. I wouldn't want to be in a Lisa episode. They're kind of boring. Maybe a Homer one would be better."[56]
The White Stripes released their sixth and final album, Icky Thump, in 2007. Winning the Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Song,[57] the album was praised by the critics and saw the band returning to styles present on their first album.[58] White spoke on the bagpipe-heavy track "St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air)" and provided backing vocals across the album.[59] She was greatly praised by Alexis Petridis for her drum parts,[60] and critics at NME dubbed her spoken performance "frantic" and "the weirdest thing The White Stripes have ever recorded."[61]
In the summer of 2007, before a show in Southaven, Mississippi, Ben Blackwell (Jack's nephew and the group's archivist) recalls that Meg approached him and said: "This is the last White Stripes show". He asked if she meant of the tour, but she responded: "No. I think this is the last show, period."[62] On September 11, 2007, the White Stripes announced via their website that they were canceling 18 tour dates due to White's acute anxiety.[63][64] The following day, the duo canceled the remainder of their 2007 UK tour dates as well.[65] Jack worked with other artists in the meantime, but Meg remained largely out of the public eye, though she participated in releasing limited-edition Holga cameras stylized around the White Stripes in February 2008,[66] and appeared briefly onstage during an encore set of a Detroit show with one of Jack's bands, the Raconteurs, in June 2008.[67] In an interview with Music Radar, Jack explained that Meg's acute anxiety had been due to the combination of a very short pre-tour rehearsal time—that was further reduced by the birth of his son—and a hectic, multi-continental touring schedule. He explained: "I just came from a Raconteurs tour and went right into that, so I was already full-speed. Meg had come from a dead-halt for a year and went right back into that madness."[68]
Jack revealed the band's plan to release a seventh album by the summer of 2009.[69] On February 20, 2009—and on the final episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien—the band made their first, and what would be their last, live appearance after the cancellation of their tours, performing the song "We're Going to Be Friends".[70] A documentary about their Canadian tour—titled The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights—premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 18, 2009.[71] Directed by Emmett Malloy, the film documents the band's summer 2007 tour across Canada and contains live concert and off-stage footage.[72] Bill Bradley for Vanity Fair opined that it was "impossible" not to see Meg as "road-weary and worn-out" at the end of the film.[73] White appeared with Jack in the 2009 documentaries It Might Get Loud, which explores the careers of Jack, Jimmy Page and the Edge,[74] and It Came From Detroit, which explores the 2000s Detroit rock scene.[75]
On February 2, 2011, the band reported on their official website that they were disbanding. Their statement said it was not due to health issues or artistic differences, but "mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band".[76] White has not been active in the music industry since.[77]
Artistry
Equipment
White performed with a signature peppermint-themed kit (left), and adapted it for specific album eras such as Icky Thump (right). She used Ludwig drums and Paiste cymbals.
Throughout her tenure with the White Stripes, White extensively used the Ludwig Classic Maple kit with Paiste cymbals.[78][79] From their early years to Get Behind Me Satan, the heads of the toms and bass drum almost exclusively featured peppermint swirls.[80][81] The idea to do so came from Jack, when he and Meg noticed a bag of peppermint candy in a drugstore, and Jack said "That should be painted on your bass drum because you've been drumming like a little kid".[82] Her love of the candy inspired many of the White Stripes' artistic schemes, becoming signature in her kit and appearing in several live shows and music videos.[79][83]
While recording From the Basement: The White Stripes, the design on the bass drum was switched to an image of her hand holding the apple from the Get Behind Me Satan cover. Beginning in 2006, White used a pair of Paiste 14" Signature Medium Hi-Hats, a 19" Signature Power Crash, and a 22" 2002 Ride.[80] On the Icky Thump tour, the bass drum head design was switched to a button inspired by the Pearlies clothing Jack and Meg wore for the album cover. She also used Remo and Ludwig drumheads, various percussion instruments and Vater drumsticks.[84]
Influences
"I don't want to know about my biggest idols. I don't want to read their autobiographies, I don't want to find out what they're really like."
White's pre-show warm up included "whiskey and Red Bull."[80] She has described her "primal" approach to drumming as "[my] strength. A lot of drummers would feel weird about being that simplistic."[11] She said she respects other techniques but that her style was best for the White Stripes. When some criticisms "really bother[s] her", she said that she reminds herself that her technique is important for the band and tries to take enjoyment from her work.[80] Jack lauded her style as the band's best element.[8] Meg did not write lyrics, but she co-wrote the band's music.[90]
White's drum beats and technique have been analyzed by many critics and musicians. In "Seven Nation Army", White plays a driving quarter note groove meant to mimic a heartbeat and punctuate the guitar. The opening makes extensive use of the bass drum, hi-hat, and floor tom. The snare drum is introduced into the pre-chorus and carries into the chorus with a crash cymbal.[81] In "Fell in Love With a Girl", White plays a "hyper, stuttering rock beat" with a skipped snare drum and prominent crash cymbals.[91]
As a singer, White usually performed backing vocals but occasionally enjoyed singing lead for the White Stripes.[19] However, she preferred not to listen to her own voice and was confused by the audience's cheers when she sang live.[41] White performed lead on the following songs: "In the Cold, Cold Night" (2003), "Who's a Big Baby?" (2005), "Passive Manipulation" (2005), and "St. Andrew (This Battle is in the Air)" (2007).[92] She shared lead with Jack on "It's True That We Love One Another" (2003), "Little Ghost" (2005), "Rag and Bone" (2007) and "I'm Slowly Turning Into You" (2007).[93]
Public image
Early reviews of White's minimalistic approach to drumming were positive.[19] Dan Kilian and Ryan Schreiber of Pitchfork said in 2001 that "Meg White's kit is bashed with such force you'd imagine her as some kind of incredible hulk[sic], though in photos, she appears the prototypical indie girl—waifish, with pigtails and a nasty smirk. Yet she whips all of her 98 pounds into a tornadic fury like E. Honda's hundred-hand slap."[94] After the White Stripes' breakthrough in 2001, UK newspaper The Times said that White "reduced the art of drumming to its primary components, bashing the snare and cymbal together on alternating beats with the bass drum in a way that recalled Moe Tucker."[13] In a 2002 The Washington Post article analyzing the band's style, described White's drumming as "a surprisingly full sound, loud and raucous—like the Carpenters on steroids".[82] Of a 2002 concert in Cleveland, Ohio, Chuck Klosterman said: "[Meg] never grimaced and didn't appear to sweat; yet somehow her drums sounded like a herd of Clydesdales falling out of the sky, one after another. Clearly this is a band at the apex of its power".[95] She and Jack were also named Rolling Stone's "2002 People of the Year".[96]The New York Times'sKelefa Sanneh called her drumming "more sophisticated" than people realize in 2007. "She refuses to imitate a metronome, refuses to flatten the songs by making them conform to a steady pulse. Instead, she seems to hear the music the way Mr. White does: as a series of phrases, each with its own shape and tempo."[97]
White after a performance in 2007
There has been criticism of White's performances.[98] While Kilian and Schreiber at Pitchfork praised White's drumming, Brent DiCrescenzo called it "pancake-handed" and "sloppy" in 2003;[99]Associated Press called White's playing "maddeningly rudimentary" in 2003.[100] In a review of their 2007 Madison Square Garden performance, a writer for Vulture said of her singing: "Oh, God, it was awful ... Meg, great as she looks onstage, is pure amateur hour".[101] In March 2023, journalist Lachlan Markay wrote on Twitter: "I'm sorry Meg White was terrible and no band is better for having shitty percussion."[102] The tweet went viral, and Jack, along with several musicians and critics, came to her defense;[103] Markay later deleted his comments and apologized.[104] In response to the negative press, Jack described her drumming as the "best part of this band" and calling her a "strong female presence in rock and roll", dismissed the negative reviews as sexist.[8][105]
Since then White is often praised for her "primal" style,[106] and David Renshaw of The Guardian admitted she "got a raw deal during her White Stripes days."[107] In a 2024 Euronews article, Jonny Walfisz likened White to Ringo Starr of the Beatles, calling her a "sheer genius of a drummer" who, like Starr, had a deceptively simple style which showed creativity through minimalism to best support each song.[108] Erica Banas at WRAT called her "Rock's Favorite Recluse" in 2024, quipping that "No other drummer can rattle a rearview mirror quite like Meg White".[109] Also in 2024, writers at Consequence of Sound concluded her "minimalistic style was the perfect counter to Jack's shredding, a primal dynamic that gave their tunes that definitive garage stomp. [...] Meg provided the feel."[110] In 2025, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame wrote that "Meg's drumming is raw, powerful, and perfectly suited to the band's sound – embracing a primal, minimalist approach that gives the music its pulse and urgency, her pounding beats are the backbone of the band’s signature style."[111]
Legacy
White is a key figure in the 2000s indie and garage rock revivals.[112][113] She is one of the most discussed drummers in rock music, and her style continues to be evaluated after her retirement. The School of Rock company studied female drummers of several decades and, while acknowledging White's contemporary criticism, praised her abilities and called her "iconic".[114] Brandon Toews of Drumeo wrote that her drum beats were "full of choices most drummers wouldn't make, and that's why she's such a unique player."[81] Denis Loncaric of Drum! magazine says that every drummer should know White.[115]The New York Times's Lindsay Zoladz titled her style "quintessentially rock 'n' roll" and said that "She excels at withholding, creating negative space and subverting expectation."[116] On the enduring discussion of White's drumming, Chris Willman of Variety magazine observed that, in the aftermath of her departure from the music industry, White "seems to have been absorbed into rock orthodoxy as a great drummer by near-acclamation" and is more recognized compared to her active years.[102]MusicRadar's Stuart Williams declared "Nothing starts an argument faster than questioning Meg White's drumming abilities."[117]
White's reclusive nature and strict maintenance of her privacy has also been the subject of significant commentary;[118][119] as of 2025, she has not made any public appearances since 2009.[120] Talia Shlanger of NPR dubbed her the "21st century's loudest introvert".[19] Zoladz championed her as a "feminist hero" and an "icon for introverts".[116]Ben Sisario, also of The New York Times, said she "has become one the great recluses of 21st-century pop".[121] Andy Greene of Rolling Stone observed White "was a reluctant star even in the early days of the White Stripes." He also believes that White likely has no interest in returning to the public eye, even for a potential White Stripes reunion, and emphasized that "Meg White doesn't owe us anything."[120] For the same publication, Angie Mortoccio believed "Meg's decision not to weigh in on ridiculous arguments about her talent only make her more awesome, especially in the age of social media, when younger artists regularly reply to criticism in sometimes ill-advised ways."[122] Her life and career have been further analyzed by multiple publications.[123][124][125]
Musicians such as Dave Grohl (left) and Tré Cool (right) have praised White's drumming style.
Several musicians have praised White.[103] Jack said: "People should write books about Meg White. To me she's like Hank Williams or Jimi Hendrix. They are one in a billion. One in a billion."[89]Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and previously Nirvana stated in an interview that White is "one of my favorite fucking drummers of all time. Like, nobody fucking plays the drums like that."[126]Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine wrote in an Instagram post that White "has style and swag and personality and oomph and taste and awesomeness that's off the charts and a vibe that's untouchable".[127]Nandi Bushell has written that the White Stripes "moved me at 5 years old to want to play the drums and still move me today!"[128]Tré Cool of Green Day called Meg one of his favorite drummers.[129]Olivia Rodrigo and Margo Price have also been influenced by her.[116]
In the film School of Rock (2003), the character Freddy Jones (Kevin Clark) declares that White "can't drum!" The claim is refuted by bass player Katie (Rivkah Reyes) who says "At least she has rhythm."[130] She was portrayed by Drew Barrymore—whom White is a fan of[131]—in a 2004 Saturday Night Live skit, in which she performs "Seven Nation Army" with Jimmy Fallon.[132] On his album Gossip in the Grain (2008), Ray LaMontagne wrote and recorded a song named after White.[133] Musicians Tracey Thorn and Wanda Jackson each covered "In the Cold, Cold Night" in 2012 and 2013, respectively, as tributes.[134][135]
White's Pearl Export bass drum—complete with the original peppermint-painted bass drum that she used with the band's first show—and the Pearly Queen outfit she wore in the photos for the Icky Thump album, were featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "Women Who Rock" exhibition in 2011.[136] The outfit was again featured in the class of 2025 exhibit after her induction that year.[137]
Personal life
White married Jack White in September 1996, and they divorced in February 2000.[18][138] She briefly dated musician Oliver Henry in the early 2000s, a member of Soledad Brothers, with whom she had previously collaborated.[139] In May 2009, she married guitarist Jackson Smith, the son of musicians Patti Smith and Fred "Sonic" Smith, in a small ceremony in Jack's backyard in Nashville, Tennessee. They divorced in July 2013.[140][141]
White suffers from acute anxiety and low self-esteem, describing herself as "very shy".[8][41] She told Rolling Stone in 2005 that "the more you talk, the fewer people listen".[142] She said in 2006 that she "always kind of lived in her own world" and "never really cared about all the things that other people cared about", for example public recognition.[143] She told Nylon in 2007 that for her, being recognized in public "is like if your boss came every morning and tapped you on the head to wake you up, it's like, not now."[144] Jack said in a 2025 interview with Mojo that "For her to sit down behind the drum kit is insane. But then to get on stage and sing into a microphone? Are you kidding me? It was unbelievable, a miracle, a blessing from above, just a beautiful, beautiful thing."[89]
In March 2003, one month before the release of Elephant, White broke her wrist while in New York. As a result, the band postponed their promotional work for the album. She returned to performing in April 2003.[145]
In January 2009, White donated her last Ludwig kit to the Jim Shaw Rock 'N' Roll Benefit, an auction to raise money for the Detroit musician who was suffering from cancer.[79]
With the White Stripes, White sold over 5 million albums.[149] She received several accolades with the band, which includes winning one Brit Award from six nominations, winning six Grammy Awards from eleven nominations, and a brief Guinness World Record in 2009.[150] In 2023, she was nominated with the band for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, their first year of eligibility,[151] and inducted in 2025 (the third female drummer to be honored).[152][153] Meg declined to attend the ceremony, with Jack accepting the award and delivering a speech written by the duo.[154]
White has appeared on several listicles of influential drummers.[123] She ranked 81st on VH1's "Top 100 Greatest Women in Music" (2012),[155] 94th on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time" (2016),[156] 12th on NME's "32 of the Best Drummers to Grace Rock 'n' Roll" (2018),[157] 30th on MusicRadar's "The 30 Greatest Drummers of All Time" (2021),[158] 97th on Universal Music Group's "100 Best Drummers" (2022),[159] 9th on American Songwriter's "Top 10 Most Influential Rock Drummers" (2023),[160] 20th on Drumeo's "The 20 Best Rock Drummers of All Time" (2023),[161] and 88th on Consequence of Sound's "100 Best Drummers of All Time" (2024).[110]
12345Fricke, David (September 8, 2005). "White on White". Rolling Stone. No.982. pp.66–72. Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
Blue Orchid (US maxi-CD single liner notes). The White Stripes. V2 Records, Third Man Records. 2005. 63881-27833-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
↑Center, Marc (June 13, 2009). "Weather Report"(PDF). Billboard. p.22. Archived(PDF) from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2020– via American Radio History.
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