The White Stripes earn rightful place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
But will the iconic band reunite for the ceremony?
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The White Stripes — the quirky, two-piece rock ’n’ roll band from Detroit whose “Seven Nation Army” inexplicably became a sports stadium anthem — has officially been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The class of 2025 was announced Sunday, with other inductees including Soungarden, Outkast, Cyndi Lauper, Bad Company, and Chubby Checker.
Made up of the ex-married couple of Jack and Meg White, the band is the latest act from the Detroit area to join the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, joining the likes of Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Parliament-Funkadelic, The Stooges, Alice Cooper, and Eminem.
Artists are eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after their first commercial recording; for the Stripes, that was the band’s 1998 indie label seven-inch single “Let’s Shake Hands,” making them eligible for the first time in 2023.
That the White Stripes became inducted so quickly after eligibility is a testament to the band’s undeniable star power. (Some artists have to wait a long time. Chubby Checker, who had a No. 1 hit with his 1960 cover of “The Twist,” has been lobbying for the honor for decades.) When the Stripes burst into the national and international spotlight in the early 2000s, they did so alongside a trend of other so-called “garage rock” bands offering a raw and somewhat throwback guitar-based sound. But even among fellow garage rock acts like the Strokes and the Hives, the White Stripes stood out.
That was thanks in part to the band’s penchant for dressing in only red, white, and black, as well as the duo’s claims to be a brother and sister. More importantly, it was the potent combo of Jack White’s virtuoso guitar playing and Meg White’s primitive yet signature drumming, which led to endless debates among a certain sect of rock snobs but also saw the band transcend the trend and inspire countless other artists.
Much of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame news coverage speculated on whether the band would get back together for the induction ceremony, which has featured a number of improbable reunions over the years and is set for Nov. 8 in Los Angeles. The band officially split in 2011, following a scrapped 2007 tour canceled citing Meg White’s mental health. While Meg White has opted to live a low-key life in Detroit, Jack White relocated to Nashville and launched a solo career, releasing the acclaimed album No Name last year and playing sold-out back-to-back hometown gigs at the Masonic Temple earlier this month.
If the band was ever to reunite — and that’s probably a pretty big if — it seems the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame would be just the occasion. But even if it doesn’t, we’ll always have the records.
