Jack White breaks silence amid Meg White drumming controversy

16 March 2023, 12:37 | Updated: 16 March 2023, 12:53

The White Stripes frontman shared a picture of his former bandmate alongside a poem, following the discourse surrounding her talent as a drummer.

Jack White has spoken out after the recent controversy which surrounded Meg White's drumming ability.

The White Stripes - who formed in 1997 and officially disbanded in 2011, were one of the biggest duos in rock, but Meg White went viral after a political journalist Lachlan Markay disparaged her drumming ability, calling her "terrible".

Music fans and celebrities alike came out in defence of the musician and now her White Stripes bandmate and former husband has appeared to show his support on social media.

Sharing an image of Meg White behind the drum kit in full flow, the Seven Nation Army rocker shared a poem, which began: "To be born in another time,/any era but our own would’ve been fine."

See his full post below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jack White (@officialjackwhite)

Lachlan Markay originally shared a tweet which read: "The tragedy of The White Stripes is how great they would have been with a half decent drummer.

"Yeah, yeah I’ve heard all the ‘but it’s a carefully crafted sound mannnn!’ takes. I’m sorry Meg White was terrible and no band is better for having s***ty percussion".

However, after much backlash, he returned to the platform to write a lengthy apology, in which he called his stance "petty, obnoxious" and "just plain wrong.”

He began: "By now you’ve probably seen an ill-advised (and since-deleted) tweet I sent out yesterday about the White Stripes and Meg White. It was an over-the-top take on TWS and White as a drummer, and was, let's face it, just truly awful in every way. Petty, obnoxious, just plain wrong."

He contiuned: "I’ve been thinking to myself as all this—again, completely justified—hate comes in over the last 24 hours: why did I actually write that? It’s not what I really think, and I like to think I’m not the asshole it made me out to be, or at least I try not to be.

"I think the answer, in part, is that sort of vicious sniping is something that we—us online folks—tend to reward with eyes and clicks. And I think I got caught up in that implicit incentive structure with a needlessly inflammatory, downright mean, and most importantly false take."

READ MORE: Reporter apologises to Meg White after calling The White Stripes drummer "terrible" on Twitter

Meg White not only saw support from the likes of American musician, producer, actor and Academy Award-winning director Questlove, but Jack White's ex wife Karen Elson also took to the platform to share her support of the musician, and shared another post which reminded people that it was Jack White to who took her last name.

The famous fashion model, who was married to The Hardest Button To Button singer from 2005 - 2013, wrote: "Not only is Meg White a fantastic drummer, Jack also said the White Stripes would be nothing without her. To the journalist who dissed her, keep my ex husband’s ex wife name out of your f*cking mouth. (Please and Thank You)".

READ MORE: The story of The White Stripes