ABOUT THE BOOK

When country music legend Loretta Lynn first heard The White Stripes, she said the duo of Jack White and Meg White "sounded like someone was breaking into a bank."

She was describing the aggressive, loud and original sounds of the Detroit band that was changing rock 'n' roll with its fusion of garage-style rock and blues arrangements. Once thought to be brother and sister, Jack White and Meg White came crashing into the music scene circa 2002 with their megahit, "Fell In Love With A Girl."

When they left the music scene for good on Feb. 2, 2011, they left the world with rock 'n' roll hits that will survive beyond their creators.

Even after it was discovered the Whites were actually ex-husband and ex-wife, no one stopped listening. Critics were too busy hailing The White Stripes as saviors of rock 'n' roll with hits such as "Seven Nation Army" and "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground."

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For years, the band was a bit of a rock enigma, even to each other. They went on hiatus for a few years before reuniting for 2007's Icky Thump, a commercial and critical success. But in the fall of 2007, the band cancelled the rest of their U.S. tour due to Meg White's "acute anxiety."

Jack White was the talkative, lead figure of the band, while Meg White was the introverted one no one seemed to understand. In a 2009 interview with The Guardian, Jack White explained how he too tries to get past the enigma of Meg White.

"My ears prick up when she actually mentions something about what we've done. I'm so interested to hear what her take on it is. But it quickly dissolves into: 'I don't know what she's taking from that... I'm just so happy that she knew that we played that one show!"'

Meg White's distinctive primitive drumming style made The White Stripes different from any other rock band at the time, and Jack White's virtuoso guitar skills made them superior. Despite only two members, the band filled arenas and festivals with their ground-shaking sound.