Where Is Meg White Now? A Look at Her History With the White Stripes and Where She Is Today

Publish date: 2024-05-19

The White Stripes are nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but where is drummer Meg White in recent years?

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By the time the then-unknown White Stripes exploded onto the MTV scene with their Lego-inspired "Fell in Love With a Girl" video in 2002, the group's individuals — Jack and Meg White — had already been married and divorced.

In an effort to stay other folks' consideration on their song, the Detroit duo claimed they have been merely brother and sister. It just added to part of their bizarre lore — these faded, dark-haired, red-and-white-loving, minimalist, blues-inspired storage rockers with a confusing history.

Over the process Thirteen years and six studio albums, the band gained worldwide reputation and acclaim — but one half of the group still all the time remained a little bit of a thriller. On that word: Where is drummer Meg White now?

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Where is Meg White now? A look back at her history with the White Stripes and what we all know today.

Drummer Meg used to be always "the quiet one" to her ever-talkative counterpart, guitarist-vocalist Jack. Some critics slammed her skills as too simplistic and basic (very easily forgetting the proven fact that the White Stripes' whole shtick was once simplicity and a back-to-basics taste). People frequently speculated about why she did not say much — was Jack protecting her silent? (She debunked this in the band's 2009 concert film.)

Perhaps Meg was just letting her paintings talk for itself. Maybe she was well aware of how briefly things could be taken out of context. Regardless, it all simply added to the noise round her.

It was once evident Jack and Meg were in many ways opposites, which fueled their chaotic musical dynamic but also almost definitely contributed to their 2011 breakup.

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Jack told Rolling Stone in a 2018 profile that "with me, you get the extremes of every single emotion." This came four years after he'd expressed his frustrations about Meg's persona, telling the identical magazine that Meg used to be the kind "who won't high-five me when I get a touchdown." He gave an example that she can be "sitting in silence" while he expressed elation over an success in the recording studio.

Though the band's official breakup was announced in 2011, their closing efficiency was in 2007 once they canceled their ultimate tour dates, citing Meg's "acute anxiety." They got here together one more time in 2009 to perform for Conan O'Brien's farewell episode of Late Night, but that was it for the duo.

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But for all the puzzling (and perhaps out-of-context) things Jack has said about Meg, he has always acknowledged her ability and how "inspiring" and "incredible" she used to be for the crew. He informed Rolling Stone in 2014: "I don’t think she understood how important she was to the band, and to me and to music. ... All the not-talking didn’t matter, because onstage? Nothing I do will top that.”

Back in 2002 when they were still pretending to be brother and sister, he praised her in Modern Drummer, noting: “She’s perfect; she’s the best part of the band, really. Her style is just so simplistic that I can work around it and work with it. We have this kind of telepathy onstage where we can just read each other’s minds. If we had anybody else onstage it would just get ruined, I think."

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OK, so where has Meg White been since the White Stripes disbanded? The crew has been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

On Feb. 1, 2023, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominations have been announced, with the White Stripes making the list. Per the Detroit Free Press, it's the band's first 12 months of eligibility, as it is been 25 years since their first industrial release. Naturally, many have been wondering about if we'll be seeing Meg again anytime quickly, and what she's been up to over the years.

There is not a whole lot identified about Meg since the White Stripes' breakup, though we all know she was once married to Patti Smith's son Jackson Smith from 2009 to 2013.

And over the years, Jack has been asked a few instances about Meg's whereabouts.

He instructed Rolling Stone in 2014: "I don’t think anyone talks to Meg. She’s always been a hermit. When we lived in Detroit, I’d have to drive over to her house if I wanted to talk to her, so now it’s almost never.”

In 2015, Jack did a Q&A with subscribers to his Third Man Records "Vault" club. When some users asked about Meg, Jack said she "doesn't solution her phone" (per Billboard). When another user asked whether he'd consider playing with Meg again, Jack simply answered: "Nope. ... That time is long past."

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Rolling Stone brought up Meg again in its 2018 profile on Jack. The journalist wrote: "I ask if there’s any chance that the White Stripes, who broke up in 2011, could be revived. He squints, as though the question is bizarre. 'I highly doubt,' he says, 'that will ever be a thing.'"

In 2019, some Reddit users said that Jack's nephew (and White Stripes archivist) Ben Blackwell had confirmed to the Vault club that he'd seen Meg in Detroit and that she was doing well.

"I wonder what she looks like now," one user wrote.

Another user, who said they'd seen her backstage at a show, replied: "She looks as if she at all times did."

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