The White Stripes

Rock Band

The White Stripes are a blues-rock duo from Detroit, Michigan, made up of Jack White (guitar and vocals) and Meg White (drums). Stylish and savvy, they began playing together in 1997 and are famously cagey about their real backgrounds -- are they brother and sister or ex-spouses? They had modest early success with singles before their debut LP The White Stripes was released in 1999 to wide critical acclaim, especially in the U.K. Their subsequent albums De Stijl (2000), White Blood Cells (2001), Elephant (2003) and Get Behind Me Satan (2005) received equally good press and spawned singles and videos, including "We're Going to Be Friends" (featured in the film Napolean Dynamite), "Fell in Love With a Girl," "Seven Nation Army" and "Blue Orchid." Jack White married British model Karen Elson in 2005. He also formed the band The Raconteurs, whose 2006 album, Broken Boy Soldiers, included the single "Steady As She Goes." The White Stripes released their sixth album, Icky Thump in 2007.

Extra credit: Jack White produced country legend Loretta Lynn's 2004 album, Van Lear Rose... Jack had a small part in the movie Cold Mountain (2003, opposite Renee Zellweger).

Other rock bands of the era include Coldplay, Radiohead and The Strokes.