first professional gig

At 19 years old, White had landed his first professional gig as the drummer for the Detroit band Goober & the Peas , and was still in that position when the band broke up in 1996. It was in this band that he learned about touring and performing onstage. After the band’s split, he settled into working as an upholsterer by day while moonlighting in local bands, as well as performing solo shows. Though a bartender by trade, Meg began to learn to play the drums in 1997, and according to Jack, “When she started to play drums with me, just on a lark, it felt liberating and refreshing.” The couple became a band, calling themselves the White Stripes . Two months after forming, on July 14, 1997 (also known as Bastille Day , which White recounted), Jack and Meg performed their first show at the Gold Dollar in Detroit; of the three songs on the setlist, one of them was “Jimmy the Exploder”, which would be the intro of their debut album in 1999. Despite being married until 2000, they publicly presented themselves as siblings. They kept to a chromatic theme, dressing only in red, white, and black. They began their career as part of Michigan’s underground garage rock music scene. They played along with and opened for more established local bands such as Bantam Rooster , the Dirtbombs , Two-Star Tabernacle , Rocket 455, and the Hentchmen .