Rock duo the White Stripes have broken up, the band announced on its official website Wednesday.
Largely inactive since 2007's Warner Bros. release "Icky Thump," the band denied any personal or health reasons were behind the split, instead stating both members wished to "preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way."
Consisting of drummer Meg White and guitarist-singer-keyboardist Jack White, the band formed in Detroit in 1997, releasing its self-titled debut in 1999 on indie label Sympathy for the Record Industry. Initially billing themselves as a brother-sister act, the Whites were later revealed to be divorced ex-spouses.
2002 single "Fell in Love With a Girl" broke the group through to the mainstream amidst a crowd of fellow garage-rock revivalists such as the Strokes, the Hives and the Vines, though the White Stripes quickly emerged as the biggest of the bunch. 2003 major label debut "Elephant" (on V2 Records) proved the group's most successful release, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard charts and eventually going platinum in the U.S. and double platinum in the U.K. 2005's "Get Behind Me Satan" and 2007's "Icky Thump" reached No. 3 and No. 2 on the charts, respectively. The group won five Grammy Awards.
During the band's increasingly frequent hiatuses, Jack White also fronted bands the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather, as well as collaborating with legacy singers Loretta Lynn and Wanda Jackson. Tour documentary "Under Great White Northern Lights" premiered at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com