Music / Business & brands
Jack White
born 1975 · guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer
Southwest Detroit native who co-founded the White Stripes at the Gold Dollar bar in 1997 and later opened Third Man Records' Cass Corridor store and pressing plant.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 51- Birth name
- John Anthony Gillis
- Also known as
- John Gillis
- Detroit years
- 1975–2005, 2015–
- Field
- Music, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Jack White grew up as John Gillis in Mexicantown in Southwest Detroit, served as an altar boy and attended Cass Technical High School. He worked as an upholsterer and, at 19, landed his first paid gig as drummer for the Detroit band Goober & the Peas. With Meg White he formed the White Stripes, who played their first show at the Gold Dollar on Cass Avenue on July 14, 1997, and signed with the local Italy Records label a year later. The band grew out of the city's underground garage-rock scene and reached global fame with White Blood Cells in 2001. White later based himself in Nashville but kept investing in his hometown: he paid for a new baseball diamond in Clark Park in 2009, settled most of the Masonic Temple's back taxes in 2013 (its theater now bears his name) and opened Third Man Records on West Canfield Street in 2015, adding a vinyl pressing plant in 2017.
Highlights
- Played the White Stripes' first show at the Gold Dollar, July 14, 1997
- Paid $142,000 of the Masonic Temple's back taxes in 2013; its theater was renamed for him
- Gave nearly $170,000 to rebuild the Clark Park baseball field (2009)
- Third Man Pressing (2017) was the first vinyl plant opened in Detroit since 1965
- Honorary doctorate from Wayne State University, 2019
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 6
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1997–2000
The Gold Dollar
Demolished · 1934–2001
Cass Corridor bar and music venue (1996–2001 as a rock club) where the White Stripes played their first show. The vacant building burned in July 2019 and was torn down.
Studied here · early 1990s
Cass Technical High School
Detroit's selective public high school, which he attended.
Memorial · 2013–
Theatre Bizarre
He paid $142,000 of the temple's back taxes in 2013 and its Scottish Rite cathedral became the Jack White Theater. He played the longest show of his career here in 2014 and married onstage here in 2022.
Founded · 2015–
Third Man Records Cass Corridor
Record store, novelty shop and stage opened on November 27, 2015 in a former car dealership; the Third Man Pressing vinyl plant followed in 2017.
Related place · 2009
Clark Park
Southwest Detroit park near where he grew up; he donated almost $170,000 to renovate its baseball diamond.
Performed here · 2024
Ford Field
He performed with Eminem at the Detroit Lions' 2024 Thanksgiving Day halftime show.