The White Stripes are Kaput

Announced today on their website, The White Stripes are officially broken up.

This comes as a bit of a surprise I must say, as Jack White had been hinting late in 2010 that he and Meg White would be reconvening early this year.  In a Vanity Fair interview, he had said “We thought we’d do a lot of things that we’d never done: a full tour of Canada, a documentary, coffee-table book, live album, a boxed set…Now that we’ve gotten a lot of that out of our system, Meg and I can get back in the studio and start fresh.”

Seemingly, we were to hear brand spanking new material from these two sometime in the near future.  But today, the following statement showed up on the official White Stripes website, all at once applying the first and final nails to the coffin:

The White Stripes would like to announce that today, February 2nd, 2011,
their band has officially ended and will make no further new recordings or perform live.

The reason is not due to artistic differences or lack of wanting to continue, nor any
health issues as both Meg and Jack are feeling fine and in good health.

It is for a myriad of reasons, but mostly to preserve What is beautiful and special about
the band and have it stay that way.

Meg and Jack want to thank every one of their fans and admirers for the incredible
support they have given throughout the 13 plus years of the White Stripes’ intense and
incredible career.

Third Man Records will continue to put out unreleased live and studio recordings from
The White Stripes in their Vault Subscription record club, as well as through regular
channels.

Both Meg and Jack hope this decision isn’t met with sorrow by their fans but that it is
seen as a positive move done out of respect for the art and music that the band has
created. It is also done with the utmost respect to those fans who’ve shared in those
creations, with their feelings considered greatly.

With that in mind the band have this to say:

“The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong
to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is
that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your
involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful.”

Sincerely,
Meg and Jack White
The White Stripes

One can only figure that Jack will continue on with any number of new projects or back some of the the groups he’s been involved with over the years such at The Raconteurs or The Dead Weather.  One new thing in the works that seems interesting is called Rome, for which both Jack and vocalist Norah Jones have been recruited by producer Danger Mouse.  As for Meg, well who knows.  It’s said that the anxiety issues she experienced in 2007 that forced the cancellation of tour dates are done and she’s in the clear from a health standpoint.  Perhaps she’ll continue on with her photography and amateur taxidermy (no, I’m not making that up).

We’ll miss you two.