The White Stripes are no more. The seminal alt-rock band, formed by Jack and Meg White in 1997, has officially split up. The duo recorded six albums together, scoring hits with "Fell in Love with a Girl" and "Seven Nation Army," and their raw, stripped-down, guitar-heavy sound inspired a host of millennial bands. Here, a selection of rock critics weigh in on the duo's legacy:
They brought back the guitar: At their best, says Luke Lewis at the New Musical Express, The White Stripes "channelled the pure, feel-it-in-your-chest power of rock 'n' roll better than any band." At a time when "guitar music was in the doldrums," they made a generation of "fey indie types fall in love with proper old-fashioned hollering blues" and "memorable guitar riffs."
"The White Stripes - Why they'll be missed"
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They never lost their underground spirit: The White Stripes "never lost that sense of being a people's band, a bedroom collector's outfit," says Marc Spitz at Vanity Fair. Even when they were selling out Madison Square Garden, "it was okay to still believe that the White Stripes were still 'our' band." Picking up the vinyl edition of Elephant, their fourth album, it was like "you could smell the must of the record shop shelf in the grooves."
"In memoriam: The White Stripes, 1997 to 2011"
They never sold out: At a time when "rock took itself too seriously," says Chris Coplin at Consequence of Sound, The White Stripes were defiantly theatrical. From the "secretive," totally made-up back story ("no, they aren't siblings"), to their "black, white, and red clothing," they showed that "being true to yourself is the most rock star thing you could ever do."
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