In Memoriam ...

As everyone has already heard, the White Stripes are no more. For over a decade, the iconic two-piece band comprised of Jack and Meg White established a more than well-deserved reputation as one of rock music's most preliminary acts, issuing stellar album after stellar album. During the time, the duo also earned a reputation as one of the most invigorating live acts in the world.

Since 2007, after the release of the band's now final studio album Icky Thump, Jack has been jumping around from multiple side-projects with the Raconteurs and Dead Weather, along with producing work for other artists. It was a somewhat long hiatus for Jack's original project, which was rumored off-again, on-again to be returning to the studio and on tour, but to no avail.

In the band's official statement, the two wrote that, "The White Stripes belong to you know, and you can do with it whatever you want." There was no collective difference between Jack and Meg, apparently, and there were no outside issues that prevented the group to continue their work, but rather the decision to go out on top. For an industry that far too often sees its greatest artists fall by the wayside in their twilight years, the White Stripes never left their prime. If any solace exists in the news of the group's demise, that's it.

But it's never fair to a band or artist of this quality to just say, "they're done," there's little justice to what the White Stripes actually accomplished in that. Few artists in the 2000s were more groundbreaking, earthy, and consistent as the Stripes. From their low-fi self-titled debut in the late 90s, the band truly emerged in 2001 with their breakthrough album White Blood Cells, and Michel Gondry's instantly memorable music video for "Fell In Love With a Girl." For those that may remember, White Blood Cells was also featured on Bears and Bullets list for the ten best albums of the 2000s as well.

The group's stellar career continued to tick upward through the years, peaking with 2003's Elephant. Their last two albums, Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump may not have been as sincerely enriching as the group's first four LPs, but they were still remarkable achievements in its own right.

Personally, a little hole was left open when I heard of the band's breakup. Through my concert-going years I've never had the privilege to see Jack and Meg together live. I've seen the Raconteurs and Dead Weather, ironically, but not the band that had me interested in those two in the first place. For those who have, I now am forced to only imagine the experience.

There's a saying among sports fans when talking "one of a kind" players - players who combine such sporadic and unique elements to their game that can define them and only them. When those kind of players retire, fans know we'll never see another one like them again. We'll never see another Hakeem Olajuwan. We'll never see another Bobby Orr. And, unfortunately, we'll never see another White Stripes. Jack and Meg combined such an ephemeral veracity with Jack's otherworldly talent to create an awe-inspiring, and, at times, polarizing act that many music fans truly failed to appreciate.

Luckily, history will remember them well, as a band that rarely (if ever) failed expectations during their now too short career.

Usually I'd put a few music videos here for a situation like this, but I think this performance of Son House's "Death Letter" typifies the band better than any singular song.

The White Stripes - Death Letter (Live)