Meg said little in interviews all you needed to know about her you could glean from watching her perform, the glee with which she pounded skins and cymbals, the way she drained the bottle of whiskey next to her kit over the course of a show. He might have seemed curmudgeonly, if not for the verve with which he declared his passions: the Delta bluesmen he covered, such as Son House and Blind Willie McTell, and his forlorn hometown's rich garage-rock heritage. At the dawn of the internet age, Jack was a man from another era: he bemoaned bad manners and the death of the gentleman, and bad-mouthed modern technology, especially the motor car. The duo made for great copy, especially after evidence surfaced of their 1996 marriage and subsequent divorce in 2000, putting the lie to the brother/sister myth they'd propagated since their first record.
In their red, white and black livery, they were instantly iconic: you could dress up as the White Stripes for Hallowe'en, and they were recognisable even when rendered in Lego, as Michel Gondry did for the video to their breakthrough single, Fell in Love With a Girl. Later that summer, their first UK tour became the unlikely subject of mainstream press attention: front-page stories in the music press, copious coverage in both the tabloids and the broadsheets, even a feature on Radio 4's Today programme that quoted their earliest champion, DJ John Peel, declaring Jack "the most exciting guitarist since Hendrix". The first time I interviewed him, back in spring 2001, Jack told me, "Success won't change us, or the way we do things." It was this very idiosyncratic way of doing things that helped win them their success, made them a band people believe in, and a phenomenon they identify with. With the White Stripes, he and Meg created a band alive with the myth, ambiguity and idiosyncrasy that legends are hewn from and fans adore. Jack White, an inveterate record collector, understood the pleasures of being a fan better than most other musicians. But the White Stripes filled this void with incomparable style. I couldn't take my eyes off them, the atmosphere between Jack and Meg was electric, as he hollered into a microphone next to her drum kit, holding eye contact with her at all times. They arrived at a moment when rock'n'roll was experiencing one of its periodic lulls in inspiration there seemed to be no real icons, no personalities, no larger-than-life heroes left. Their songs were great – wild and alive with subtle weirdness and ageless riffs – and they played a cover of Dolly Parton's Jolene that was anything but ironic, delivering its tale of heartbreak with a captivating sincerity.
I first saw the White Stripes almost a decade ago, at the Texas music industry showcase South By South-West in March 2001, playing an afternoon barbecue party in a parking lot across from a tattoo parlour. And I understand why, because Jack and Meg White's decision to call time on the Stripes' 13-year career formally marks the end of one of the most memorable groups in recent memory. Yesterday, however, fans registered their dismay in countless threads on the internet, while others went shopping – according to Amazon, the White Stripes' 2010 live album and documentary Under Great White Northern Lights have seen an increase in sales of 2,644% on the site. And if rock history has taught us anything, it's that bands only stay split up until the first date of the lucrative reunion tour. Prolific singer/guitarist/songwriter Jack White will continue to write, perform and record with his other groups the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather, and is indeed likely putting the finishing touches to another such project as you read this.
In their exit statement on Thursday, the Detroit duo said they hoped the news would not be "met with sorrow by fans", emphasising that the split was not due to health issues or artistic differences. W hether you're a fan or not, the massive outpouring of grief this week in response to the news that minimalist rock band the White Stripes were to split up might seem puzzling.