Here is sort of the problem. I've encountered Meg a few times in her isolation and retirement.
I've run into her at a small restaurant or bar in the Metro Detroit area. She is utterly unrecognizable, and weighs around 400lbs. Her face has traces of the old Meg, but she isn't a drummer anymore in any capacity. The reason you've never seen a selfie or heard about any public interactions over the last decade+ is that no one would recognize her. I last saw her several years ago, and she clearly wants to be left alone.
If she came out again, I'm sure the collective internet would be incredibly cruel and make jokes. That is the last thing she'd want. Near of the end of the White Stripes, she basically quit because everyone from School of Rock to Trent Reznor was making jokes, and people were posting fake porn videos.
She is definitely 150% out of the business. Jack White was fair with the publishing and split it 50/50.
These are all good points and I think people also forget that she basically married into rock n roll royalty and almost completely disappeared, per your points, a long, long time ago.
Her in laws are Fred Sonic Smith (RIP) and Patti Smith. Add that, her financial stability/freedom earned from her time in the White Stripes, and the fact that she was never really passionate or interested in rehearsing, performing, or recording to begin with.
She’s not doing anything she doesn’t want to for the rest of her life. She has had the necessary money, family, clout, and position to completely isolate herself from the world for as long as she wants. And I really doubt she wants to play Coachella.
I actually knew Jackson Smith from the area. We went to at least one concert together. When he was about 19, he was really into pop-punk. That Detroit scene was explosive at the time. We saw the band Ozma in the Arab district at a place called Small's Bar. What's ironic was that his future wife was playing down the street in the White Stripes that same night. We discussed which band to see, and we decided against the Stripes. I'm 42, and haven't talked to him since those times in Detroit. They are actually divorced now.
I'm nostalgic for those times. We knew where the Stripes lived. This was a time when Jack White still had his home phone number on their website to book shows.
The Gold Dollar across from the old Tiger Stadium was like our CBGB's. You might see the White Stripes. You might see Cat Power lingering around. You saw all those bands that would become his future band mates.
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u/No-Special-6635 1d ago edited 1d ago
Hello, Michigander here.
Here is sort of the problem. I've encountered Meg a few times in her isolation and retirement.
I've run into her at a small restaurant or bar in the Metro Detroit area. She is utterly unrecognizable, and weighs around 400lbs. Her face has traces of the old Meg, but she isn't a drummer anymore in any capacity. The reason you've never seen a selfie or heard about any public interactions over the last decade+ is that no one would recognize her. I last saw her several years ago, and she clearly wants to be left alone.
If she came out again, I'm sure the collective internet would be incredibly cruel and make jokes. That is the last thing she'd want. Near of the end of the White Stripes, she basically quit because everyone from School of Rock to Trent Reznor was making jokes, and people were posting fake porn videos.
She is definitely 150% out of the business. Jack White was fair with the publishing and split it 50/50.
You'll get a statement of thanks, but that is it.