Jack White is now the “reluctant owner of a cellular telephone” for the first time in his life on his 50th birthday.
The former White Stripes frontman has been a longtime advocate of mobile phones being banned from his gigs and has proudly stated in the past that he has never owned one himself, saying that the public’s “addiction” to them is driven by “competition, voyeurism and jealousy”.
Now, though, it appears that his resistance has been broken. As he revealed on Instagram on Thursday (July 10), his wife Olivia Jean bought him his first ever mobile phone for his 50th birthday, which fell the day before.
Alongside a series of photos of him holding the phone with a quizzical expression, he wrote: “Well y’all it’s either all over for me now or just the beginning. I am now the reluctant owner of a cellular telephone for the first time in my life! A lovely 50th birthday present courtesy of my gorgeous and thoughtful wife Mrs. Olivia Jean (who took these photos as well.)”
“I’ve been saying that my days were numbered for years, can’t listen to my music in my car, can’t park at a parking lot by myself because of QR codes, etc. etc. and I guess Olivia decided to be kind and put me (and all my loved ones) out of my misery! I thought if I could make it to 50 years old at least without ever having one that I could be proud of myself, and I am.”
He concluded: “Can’t wait to talk to you all soon. My phone number is the square root of all of our combined social interaction times Pi.”
In 2019, White explained his aversion to cellphones: “I’ve never owned one, so when I’m out there I’m an anomaly and I’m looking at everybody. To me, everybody looks silly. And then you’re like, ‘Whatever, it’s their lives’. Who knows? Maybe this is the way everything is going to be from now on. I have no idea and nobody really does.”
He continued: “Maybe it’ll turn to implants. Probably it’ll turn into a microchip behind our eyeball or whatever.
That followed his decision to outright ban them from his live shows, arguing that “you’ll enjoy looking up from your gadgets for a little while and experience music and our shared love of it IN PERSON”. He later described the policy as an “interesting art experiment”.
In other news, Jack White recently attended a Cubs vs Dodgers game in Tokyo with Bill Murray while wearing a jersey gifted to him by Eddie Vedder, while The White Stripes’ ‘Get Behind Me Satan’ recently received the 20th anniversary re-release treatment.
