One of the biggest rock bands of the noughties spent decades insisting they were siblings, when in reality they were married all along. The White Stripes, who released their first studio album in 1999 before landing a hit single Seven Nation Army in 2003, were comprised of duo Jack White and Meg White. For years, the pair insisted they were siblings.

First forming the band in Detroit, Michigan, Jack and Meg met at the Memphis Smoke restaurant when they were both in high school, where she worked and where he participated in open mic nights. Jack’s name then was Jack Gillis, and he insisted Meg was his sister.

He referred to her as his “big sister” in interviews, and when rumours started to swirl that the pair were in fact husband and wife, he doubled down on his comments. Jack told NME: “We’re brother and sister. Someone started a rumour about how we used to be married and we played along with it. That was a bad idea, we get asked this all the time now.”

Later, the truth came out – Jack and Meg’s “smouldering eye contact” gave them away to eagle-eyed fans. Their marriage certificate ended up being published, leading Jack to insist in 2002: “We’ve given up. People can say whatever they want at this point. It never mattered to us. We were never trying to create this.”

But further details emerged. It turns out Jack and Meg had already divorced before the release of Seven Nation Army, and used the lie to make themselves seem more interesting.

Eventually, Jack admitted: “I want you to imagine if we had presented ourselves in another fashion, that people might have thought was the truth. How would we have been perceived, right off the bat? When you see a band that is two pieces, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, you think. ‘Oh, I see…’ When they’re brother and sister, you go, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’”

He went on: “You care more about the music, not the relationship – whether they’re trying to save their relationship by being in a band.” Fan theories have also suggested he wanted to protect Meg from rumours she was “just the frontman’s ex”.

The band called it quits in 2011, and Jack has now settled down with his third wife Olivia Jean, who he married in 2022. Meg married Jackson Smith in 2009 but they divorced in 2013.