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While the focus should be squarely on Jack White’s music as he prepares to release his second solo album, Lazaretto, recent comments he made in a Rolling Stone cover story have ensured that is not the case. White said The Black Keys represented a “watered down” version of his sound, and were “ripping off sounds” of his. “There are kids at school who dress like everybody else, because they don’t know what to do, and there are musicians like that, too,” he commented.
In the same interview he said artists like Adele, Lana Del Rey, and Duffy could not have has the success they had without the lane being opened up by Amy Winehouse, equating that to the lane The White Stripes had opened up for The Black Keys. Today, white took to his own website to “clear up a lot of the negativity surrounding things I’ve said or written,” and apologize to anyone that has been hurt by his comments.
I wish the band the Black Keys all the success that they can get. I hope the best for their record label Nonesuch who has such a proud history in music… I hope for massive success also for their producer and songwriter Danger Mouse and for the other musicians that their band employs. Lord knows that I can tell you myself how hard it is to get people to pay attention to a two piece band with a plastic guitar.
We live in a sound bite, sensationalized age. The “non apology” has become a lawyer’s dodge for celebrities themselves, given to a public that usually doesn’t want to hear it as it disrupts the tabloid “dirt” that we all want to occur.
I wish no slight to the talents of Winehouse, Duffy, Lana del Rey, and Adele. All of whom are wonderful performers with amazing voices.
Read the whole letter on Jack White’s website here. Listen to recent songs “Lazaretto” and “Just One Drink.“
