Jack White dedicated a poem Wednesday to his ex-wife and bandmate, Meg White, after a reporter posted a derogatory tweet about the White Stripes drummer that went viral.
In instagram, Jack White shared a photo of Meg White banging on her signature red and white drum set and dreamed of a world “without demons, cowards and bloodthirsty vampires.” The guitarist and percussionist played together for years as the White Stripes, a late-’90s and early-’00s punk-rock duo known for hits like “Fell in Love With a Girl” and “Seven Nation Army.”
“To be born in another time, in any age other than our own would have been fine,” wrote Jack White.
“one with the positive inspiration to foster what is good. … where we can … be one with others around us, and even with those who came before, and help ourselves with all their love, and pass it on once more. having happiness on happiness on happiness, being without fear, negativity or pain, and getting up every morning and being happy to do it all over again.
The musician’s poetic tribute to Meg White came days after journalist Lachlan Markay insulted the pioneering drummer in a tweet that has been widely condemned by fans, music critics and artists alike.
“The tragedy of the White Stripes is how great they would have been with a half decent drummer,” Markay tweeted. “I’m sorry Meg White was terrible and no band is better for having s— percussion.”
After an outright backlash, Markay deleted the unpopular tweet, retracted his comments, and apologized to White. Since then, he has made his Twitter account private, so now only his followers can access his tweets.
In a follow-up tweet, Markay called his comments about White “over the top,” “truly horrible in every way,” “mean,” “disgusting,” and “just plain wrong.” according to NME.
“To Meg White: I’m sorry. Really,” she added. “And to women in the music business in general, who I think are disproportionately subjected to this kind of bullshit, I’m sorry I fed that to you as well. I’m really going to try to be more thoughtful going forward, both here and abroad.”
Meg White, who does not appear to be active on social media, has not responded to the uproar. But several of her fellow musicians have spoken on her behalf.
On Twitter, Roots drummer Questlove called Markay’s “troll” opinion “off the mark”.
“Actually, what’s wrong with music is that people suck the life out of music like an Instagram filter, trying to achieve a high level of musical perfection that doesn’t even serve the song (or music)” , Questlove wrote.
Another person who defended Meg White was Jack White’s ex-wife, singer-songwriter Karen Elson, who praised the maligned percussionist as “a fantastic drummer” and revealed that Jack White once said “the White Stripes would be nothing without her.” .
“To the journalist who insulted her, keep the name of my ex-husband’s ex-wife out of your mouth. (Please and Thank You)”, Elson tweeted.
Other musical artists, including Margo Price, Ben Lee, and Garbage, also chimed in.
“Anyone who talks (Meg White) wouldn’t know rock and roll if it bit them in the ass,” Price said. tweeted.
“If you’re putting down Meg White, you basically don’t understand what makes good music,” Lee tweeted.
“Meg White rules and always will,” Garbage tweeted.
