The White Stripes disbanded in 2011. Meg White is said to have left the project internally in 2009. Since then she has lived in seclusion, leaving the hustle and bustle of the music industry and her earlier success behind. Her consistently shy personality is repeatedly cited as the reason for leaving, but panic attacks also seem to have played a role. And maybe also a discourse that is not just subliminally misogynistic, which has been a topic on Twitter again since Monday (March 13), at least 15 years after the end of its actual half-life. There the question is: Can Meg White play drums well?
The trigger was a tweet from a US journalist who actually mainly does political reporting. Lachlan Markay wrote the words, now erased and washed down with a lengthy apology: “The tragedy of the White Stripes is how great they could have been with even a halfway good drummer.”
A day later he said about his own words that he had not believed them himself and was a big fan in general. However, Markay did not provide an answer to his own rhetorical question as to why he had let himself be carried away by such a thing.
The reactions
In the meantime, resistance had formed and a number of musicians challenged the opinion expressed. Including The Roots drummer Questlove, who attributed the revived criticism of White’s playing to a much larger pattern.
“What’s really wrong with music is that people try to squeeze life out of it like an Instagram filter – they’re looking for technical perfection that doesn’t improve the song or the music in general.”
I try to leave “troll views” alone but this right here is out of line af. Actually what is wrong w music is people choking the life out of music like an Instagram filter—-trying to reach a high of music perfection that doesn’t even serve the song (or music) pic.twitter.com/hCj43qNpcG
— Plug 5. (@questlove) March 14, 2023
Ruban Nielson of the Unknown Mortal Orchestra reigned supreme by stating that there were a number of examples of Jack White playing with other drummers. He implies there’s a good reason why his name isn’t primarily associated with the band The Raconteurs.
but we have multiple examples of him playing with different drummers. i saw the white stripes play probably 10 times or something and there’s no one like meg white. kids would lose their mind to her drumming
— UMO (@UMO) March 14, 2023
The White Stripes plan to release a limited, remastered anniversary edition of the record this year, 20 years after their breakthrough album ELEPHANT. They are also nominated to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this May.
Jack White released two new solo albums in 2022, FEAR OF THE DAWN and ENTERING HEAVEN ALIVE.