Jack White Got Engaged And Married On Stage At His Concert In Detroit
Jack White had a very busy Friday. He released his new album, Fear of the Dawn, performed the national anthem at the Detroit Tigers Opening Day game, kicked off his Supply Chain Issues tour with a concert at Detroit’s Masonic Temple Theater, brought his girlfriend, musician Olivia Jean, onstage for a duet of The White Stripes hit “Hotel Yorba”, proposed to Olivia in the middle of the song, and then literally married her in front of a sold-out crowd of over 4,500 fans. Damn. All I did on Friday was order Pizza Hut and watch ten episodes of Frasier. Jack wins by a (creepy blue) hair.
Near the end of the concert, 46-year-old Jack brought 32-year-old Olivia onstage for “Hotel Yorba.” Midway through their duet, Jack introduced Olivia to the audience, and announced, “I got a little question for you, Olivia Jean.” She replied, “Yeah?” Then he presented her with a ring and asked her to marry him. An overwhelmed Olivia agreed, Jack slid the ring on her finger, and then he started the song up again. The next line was, “Let’s get married!” Smooth, Jack. Real smooth. The opposite of your preferred guacamole texture.
After the song, Jack scooped Olivia Jean in his arms and carried her offstage. They returned after a short break, and Jack told the crowd, “It’s been such a great day, mind if we get married right now?” The audience cheered, and Jack’s bandmates, his mom, and Olivia’s dad all joined the couple onstage. The ceremony was officiated by Jack’s business partner, Ben Swank, who quoted Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy”: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.” The Detroit News reports:
The nuptials were quick, the bride and groom kissed and White got back to rocking on stage, closing out his 15-song, 90-minute concert with a rendition of the Raconteurs’ “Steady, As She Goes” — opening line: “find yourself a girl, and settle down” — and a rollicking “Seven Nation Army” that had the crowd chanting “ooooh, ohh-ohh-ohh-ohhh, ohhhhhhhh” as White and his bandmates took a bow at the end of the show.
“God bless you Detroit,” White said as he closed out the concert. “What a day!”
Jack was born and raised in Detroit and Olivia is originally from the nearby suburb, St. Clair Shores. The couple has been working together since 2009, when Jack “discovered” Olivia after receiving a demo of her recordings. He later signed her rock band, The Black Belles, to his record label. She now performs as a solo artist and opened for Jack’s Friday concert.
Here’s Jack’s Instagram post and videos of the engagement and marriage:
This is Olivia’s first marriage and Jack’s third. In 1996 he married his White Stripes bandmate/fake sister, Meg White. They divorced in 2000. Jack’s second marriage was to supermodel/singer Karen Elson. Those two got hitched in 2005 (Meg White was the maid of honor) and had two kids: 15-year-old Scarlett Teresa and 14-year-old Henry Lee.
Jack and Karen announced that were separating in 2011, and celebrated the occasion with a sixth anniversary/divorce party. They officially divorced in 2013. Things got messy that same year when Karen took out a restraining order against Jack for harassing her via texts and emails. Jack filed a counter-motion the following month. His attorney explained that he didn’t want to be portrayed as violent toward his wife and children. Karen later recanted her charges against Jack, blaming it on her divorce lawyers for convincing her to get aggressive. The exes seem to be on good terms now. Karen even liked Olivia’s engagement post on Instagram.
So congrats to Jack White and Olivia Jean. Unless this is classic Jack White publicity trick and Olivia is actually his real-life sister. Then my official comment is: ew.
Pic: Instagram