Jack White is not impressed by Lady Gaga. The singer gave an interview with Esquire UK i n which he described Mother Monster’s music in less than flattering terms. Basically, he says it’s all very superficial. “You can’t sink your teeth into it,” he added. “It’s a sound bite.” “It’s very much of this age, because that’s what people want.” “I don’t think she lives it because it’s all artifice,” he adds. The 37-year-old rocker of The White Stripes fame then mused that the “goal of modern celebrity is to make yourself into the lowest common denominator.” Ouch . Do you agree with Jack’s assessment of Gaga? Yup. All style, no substance. No. Gaga’s actually good! View Poll »
Also in Wednesday morning’s round-up of news briefs, Charlie Sheen takes a bite at Axl Rose at a Slash Walk of Fame ceremony. Jason Bateman is heading behind the camera (and in front) for his directorial debut. And new projects for Anna Kendrick and Adam Brody. Mid-Year Box Office Report: What’s Worrying Hollywood The 3-D juggernaut has seen a steady decline. “Across Hollywood, studio executives say the dips point to a sea change in habits that have left the first half of the year littered with heartbreak: Cash-conscious consumers are becoming more discerning about what movies they see, 3D or otherwise,” THR reports . Charlie Sheen Grabs Spotlight at Slash Walk of Fame Event The Anger Management star took a bite out of former Guns & Roses frontman at a ceremony honoring G&R guitarist Slash with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, saying, “It’s quite fitting that Slash is getting a star on the very street Axl Rose will one day be sleeping on,” THR reports . Russell Crowe Morphs into Dracula Eli Roth ( Hostel ) will direct the thriller Harker for Warner Bros, which will star Crowe as Dracula. The plot revolves around a Scotland Yard detective who tracks the vampire, Deadline reports . Jason Bateman to Add ‘Director’ to Resumé Bateman is in negotiations to make his directorial debut with indie comedy Bad Words , that his Aggregate Films label will produce with Darko Films. He’ll likely play the main character which revolves around a bitter thirtysomething who uses a loophole in the system to enter a national kids’ spelling bee, Variety reports . Anna Kendrick Toasts Drinking Buddies She will play the lead in the indie comedy directed by Joe Swanberg. The film begins shooting in Chicago later this month, Deadline reports . Adam Brody Boards All the Wrong Reasons He’ll play the lead in the indie by Gia Milani about four friends who wander around New York over the course of an eventful day, Variety reports .
From the three albums planned for this fall/winter to the two corresponding band documentaries, one just isn’t enough for Billie Joe Armstrong and Co.: “Filmmakers Tim Lynch, a producer of Green Day: Bullet in a Bible , and Tim Wheeler, a co-producer and editor of The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights , are creating a documentary on the making of the three albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tre! A second documentary is being created from vintage footage from their pre- Dookie days. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong tells Billboard.biz that ‘the two Tims’ have shot the band performing in clubs, rehearsing and recording over the last year and a half. ‘It’s not going to be the sitting down, head shot of me going “we started out blah blah blah,”‘ Armstrong says. ‘We wanted to get into lifestyles of rock’n’roll and playing rock’n’roll and letting the story kind of tell itself rather than create revisionist (history).'” Sundance premieres are planned, naturally. [ Billboard via The Film Stage ]
In a New York Times Magazine profile, White hints that the dynamic between him and Meg White ultimately led to the band’s demise. By James Montgomery Jack White Photo: WireImage Jack White gets deep in a New York Times Magazine feature, discussing his marriage, his children and his relationship with former wife/ White Stripes drummer Meg White (he also talks about being taught how to weld by Bob Dylan, though perhaps that’s a story for another day). For the first time since announcing the end of the Stripes last year, White talked about the dynamic that ultimately led to the band’s demise, intimating that it was Meg who didn’t want to continue making music, and that he was forced to bring the project to a close “so we can move on with our lives.” “Some people can live their whole lives in limbo,” White said. “There came a point where I said, ‘If we’re not doing this, we need to put an end to it right now.’ And that’s what she wanted to do.” When asked by writer Josh Eells why Meg no longer felt like being a part of the White Stripes, Jack responded: “You’d have to ask her. I don’t know what her reasons are. Having a conversation with Meg, you don’t really get any answers. I’m lucky that girl ever got onstage, so I’ll take what I can get. “Meg completely controlled the White Stripes,” White continued. “She’s the most stubborn person I’ve ever met, and you don’t even get to know the reasons.” Meg White declined to be interviewed for the Times piece, though Jack seemed to backtrack on claims he made to British magazine NME last month, when he said there was “absolutely no chance” he’d ever re-form the Stripes, admitting that he misses making music with Meg. “I’d make a White Stripes record right now. I’d be in the White Stripes for the rest of my life,” he said. “That band is the most challenging, important, fulfilling thing ever to happen to me. I wish it was still here. It’s something I really, really miss.” In the meantime, he’s moving on. White’s first solo album, Blunderbuss, is set to hit stores on April 24. Related Videos Goodbye To The White Stripes Related Photos The White Stripes: A Career In Photos Related Artists The White Stripes
Track is from White’s first solo album, Blunderbuss, due April 24. By James Montgomery Jack White Photo: WireImage Jack White hasn’t exactly been living life outside the public eye since announcing the end of the White Stripes last year, making records with everyone from Tom Jones to the Insane Clown Posse and appearing on (a really pretty excellent) episode of “American Pickers,” to name just a few of his endeavors. And on April 24, he’ll officially add “solo artist” to that r
Track is from White’s first solo album, Blunderbuss, due April 24. By James Montgomery Jack White Photo: WireImage Jack White hasn’t exactly been living life outside the public eye since announcing the end of the White Stripes last year, making records with everyone from Tom Jones to the Insane Clown Posse and appearing on (a really pretty excellent) episode of “American Pickers,” to name just a few of his endeavors. And on April 24, he’ll officially add “solo artist” to that r
What the f*ck kind of twisted mess is this? Jack White, famous rocker with The White Stripes, and his wife have a sixth anniversary coming up and it’s going to be a big ol’ party. That’s normal, right? Well, this one is a little more peculiar. The couple announced their divorce and are going to use their anniversary to throw a big party to celebrate. What?! There are so many twisted angles here. The Whites are going to invite friends and family and have drinks, videos and memories. Ummm…is this a joke? If they’re getting along so well, why are they divorcing?!
Jack White, the lead singer and guitarist for White Stripes, has some advice for would-be musicians: Quit playing video games. An NME interviewer asked White
Force says the ad soundtrack’s similarity to ‘Fell in Love With a Girl’ was unintentional. By Joel Hanek White Stripes’ Jack White Photo: MTV News The U.S. Air Force has pulled the ad in which the White Stripes claim a re-recording of their song was used without permission. The Detroit rock duo band alleged that the 30-second recruitment commercial that aired during Sunday’s Super Bowl used music from “Fell in Love With a Girl” without their consent. The ad has been taken down from the Air Force Web site, but a statement on the site says the association with the Stripes was unintentional. “The Air Force Reserve commissioned an original piece of music for its one-time, 30-second Super Bowl regional advertisement,” said Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt, Air Force Reserve Command director of public affairs. “As soon as we realized there was a question about our ad, we immediately pulled it and have no plan to re-use it. Our goal was only to attract the best and brightest Americans to become Citizen Airmen.” The statement also claims that a contractor, Fast Forward Music, was hired by their advertising agency to compose an original score of music. “We had no intention to use existing music from the White Stripes or any other performer,” Pratt said. “Any similarity to them or other artists was certainly not intentional.” Shortly after the ad aired, the Stripes took to their site to object to their implied backing of military recruitment. “We believe our song was re-recorded and used without permission of the White Stripes, our publishers, label or management,” the statement read. “The White Stripes take strong insult and objection to the Air Force Reserve’s presenting this advertisement with the implication that we licensed one of our songs to encourage recruitment during a war that we do not support.” Related Artists The White Stripes
