From hyping Tidal to playing in obscure states to lighting vinyl on fire, Jack White has been doing a good job of keeping his name in the news lately. But reviving the White Stripes and getting back onstage with Meg? That's about as likely as seeing him in a Spotify tee or listening to compressed files.
White shut down the idea in a May 24 Q&A with subscribers to his Third Man Records Vault club, to a member with the user name BlueOrchid, no less.
When first prodded about Meg, Jack asserted the former White Stripes drummer "doesn't answer her phone." Then BlueOrchid chimed in, "That is sad we miss Meg. If she did answer the phone would you consider playing with her again?"
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His response? "Nope… That time is gone."
The White Stripes officially disbanded in 2011.
And sure, Jack White plays plenty of their material when he tours as a solo act, but he also hinted we might not be seeing much of that anymore, either.
"Only seated theaters for acoustic shows for the rest of my days," he wrote. "It's hard when the people who organize festivals basically control my life … I have to book shows around their offer that I can't refuse … it's very expensive to tour … people think that's how musicians make their money these days sadly, but it's hard to be on the road no matter what size you are."
Consequence of Sound points out that a full transcript of the chat is available here.