Hey, no fair! Sasha Frere-Jones in the New Yorker, no less, called for Jack to dump Meg for someone "knows from simple, thunderous straight-time drumming" in June, 2005 and the VV and NYT have been snarking on her for years. I posit that she, like many historic Detroit musicians of frail voice and/or skills (yeah, I'm talking to you Diana) knows perfectly well that style can trump substance when it comes to pop. It works!

wow, screw you, Meg White is the best.

wow, screw you, Meg White is the best.

Unbelievably small minded given that Meg's style of drumming has less to do with straight forward time-keeping than keeping the time - and the music - changes interesting. Anyone who listened to the music would know that. What a stupid post.

You're an idiot.

Forget about Meg's timing, your's sucks. Kicking someone when they're down to get attention for yourelf. What a sad, desperate little man you are.

for someone who is at least smart enough to refer to a dictionary (to the point where it gets blatantly obvious and slightly painful), you know nothing of what you speak and you make it painfully obvious. you really must not know the Stripes at all, because if you did then you would know that Jack loves the way Meg drums because it compliments what he wants to be heard. she has always been amazning in that odd little way of hers. her child like playing only makes the Stripes better. Meg is half of the White Stripes, she has always been half of the White Stripes, nothing less. she arguably given more to the Stripes then Jack has. as a drummer you should be at least simple enough to understand the complexity in Megs playing brilliantly hidden in simplistic beats. but as you make quite clear, you aint that smart, now are you? so, how about you get your (most likely tallentless) ass on the stage and see if you can handle the pressure of playing to thousands of people a few times a week, being in a different city every night, probably not sleeping, and then having jackass's (such as yourself) rag on your playing even though they dont have the balls let alone the talent to get up there themselves!

have a good one :D
-J.

You may or may not know a lot about the technical aspects of drumming.

It's obvious that you know nothing about music.

No wonder she's suffering anxiety attacks. People keep dissing her and calling for Jack to dump her from the band. She needs all the support and kindness we can give her. She's always been shy and dealing with the exposure of fame can't have been easy for her. I imagine it wouldn't be easy for anyone. Give Meg a break!

What Stripes?

Hmm...that's interesting. As far as I know, I've never heard of a drummer named Ben Richardson, or a music critic for that matter. Sounds to me like Sir Ben is experiencing a bit of jealousy over the fact that someone else is living his dream without having to do very much at all. Poor Ben; you can practice and practice and practice, but you're never going to amount to anything greater than a second rate drummer and tenth rate journalist. I'm sure working at the McDonald's and writing a worthless opinion (and by worthless, I mean that nobody knows or cares who Ben Richardson is) here and there makes it hard to find the time to discover the true purpose of music, but let me give you a little hint: it's about soul, not mathematical timing or technical prowess. In another 15 years, when Meg White is being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, you'll most likely be trying to convince your neighbors to trade you cigarettes for food stamps. You might as well change your name to Nobody.

i fell bad but still, they at least better reschedule what if this is my only chance ever to see them i've poured my life into this band and radiohead had less than three weeks to go and now they are done. i can't see another fargo appearance happening again i should have went to bonnaroo

You are missing the whole point of how great they are together. Simplicity and Genius. It works perfectly imperfectly together just like nature and life. It was never meant to sound like studio musicians; like many star bands are.........You are also very insensitive I hope you or a family member never gets sick. If so, you'll be apologizing and hopefully to God before you die.

Wow.. now that was impressive.... writing a jealous, bitter article and proving once and for all, failed musicians really do end up as music journos/critics don't they?

It just must eat you alive that Meg White has achieved more success than you could ever hope to imagine. You really are a pathetic excuse for a man.

I agree that she's a poor player, and she wouldn't be where she is if it weren't for Jack compositional skills.

But still what she does fit superbly with what Jack is trying to accomplish and judging by the sales, it works.

Ringo Starr wasn't the greatest drummer, too. Do you think that Neil Peart or that Portnoy guy would fit in Whitestripes? I don't think so...

Anyone who starts a sentence with "As a drummer myself..." and then proceeds to insult Meg White is totally incompetent himself and will never know why. Perhaps you would like the White Stripes better if Greg Bissonette or Dave Weckl were playing drums to a click track. Get a clue.

I don't care about the White Stripes, but the phrase "suckitude epiphany" is awesome.

Speculating: I bet Meg caught Jack getting domed by some groupy.

Accute anxiety means it is centered around a particular problem, and the only problem I can think of that would require cancelling all 2007 remaining tour dates (U.S. and U.K.) is Jack and infidelity. Exhaustion and/or stress means you cancel a few dates and re-charge. Cancelling all remaining dates on two continents means something bigger is happening in the band. And in this case, it's a band of two.

Either way, Meg's a PERSON and not just the product we adore, I wish her well in sorting this out.

Glad to see that I touched a nerve, and equally glad to see all the hand-wringing Meg White apologists coming out of the woodwork to wax rhapsodic about the hidden genius and subtlety of her transcendently "child-like" playing. Maybe there's something "hidden" in her wonky time-keeping and limp-wristed attempts to augment the music, and maybe I just lack the sheer BRILLIANCE of all my gracious commentators, but basically all I hear is someone struggling to keep up, playing unimaginative patterns which were undoubtedly drilled into her by Jack.

"J" sets the bar for asinine response pretty goddamn high by claiming that Meg has "arguably given more to the White Stripes than Jack has." I'm not sure that comment even warrants further consideration. He/she then trots out the old warhorse "don't criticize something if you can't do it yourself" line, which I never thought would follow me all the way from elementary school.

I am amused by the people who think that the fact that I don't like Meg White's drumming is a direct indictment of my general intelligence. Does being unenlightened about the supposed awesomeness of Meg White really make me "stupid?" Or is it just, y'know, one of those "opinion" things? Special mention goes to poster "Nik," who is SO offended by the idea that I don't like her drumming that he took ten minutes out of his day to insult me. Seriously dude...are you on their payroll or something? If I don't like a band you like, then I'm going spend the rest of my life working at McDonalds?

Also ridiculous are all the people who assume that I jerk off to sheet music and think that the White Stripes would be better served by some chop-heavy prog-master athwart the drum throne. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have huge appreciation for people who at excel at simplistic, pocket playing, and there is a good deal to be said for doing the most with the fewest notes possible. Obviously Mike Portnoy's style would not work well in the White Stripes...although he has enough talent to serve the music perfectly playing quarter notes if he had to. There's some great video of Portnoy covering Beatles songs live on a four-piece kit; one might be able to find them on YouTube. Back to the matter at hand, what about Phil Rudd? Vinnie Appice? Brad Wilk? All of them (or any similarly styled and talented player) could provide exactly the kind of thunderous, unadorned foundation that Jack White's playing seems to thrive upon, and all could groove harder sneezing on a snare drum than Meg White has in her entire life. Its not that I think her playing necessarily too simple, its that I think she can't even make the barest bones sound good.

I'm sorry if I offended the delicate sensibilities of the people who think I'm piling on, or kicking her while she's down. They're right. I am...I've harbored this distaste for her playing for a long time, and the opportunity presented itself. Being a celebrity is tough. Assholes like me get to make fun of you in print. Such is life.

sad sad sad...yes you can make fun in print because you are obviously afraid that Meg would kick your ass if you tried saying it to her face.

I bet Mo Tucker couldn't drum either?

What a ridiculously misinformed piece of BS. Anyone who has ever been fortunate enough to attend a White Stripes show (and who pays attention) will realize that nobody else could do what Meg can do in that band. There is something like a psychic bond between Jack and Meg, and she can follow him anywhere he goes with the music. And that is all over the map, because they never play to a set list, they play whatever Jack feels like playing at the moment, and he often switches it up in the middle of a song.

Yet their live concerts are awesome; Rolling Stone magazine recently named The White Stripes as the best live band on earth. And according to the Critically Acclaimed website (which compiles statistics of music reviews), The White Stripes are the most critically acclaimed band of the decade. You really think all that would be possible without Meg? Think again.

Yes, Jack is the musical genius of the band, he leads and Meg follows. But the ability to follow the leader well has all too often been undervalued. Jack himself has said that Meg is the best drummer for him to play with; and he has played in quite a few bands with a number of different drummers. If you want to hear Jack White in a band with a drummer whose technical skills really shine, check out The Raconteurs with drummer Patrick Keeler. He's a great drummer, very proficient and passionate both. It's great music, but even The Raconteurs can't hold a candle to The White Stripes. And that's because there is nothing else in the world like the combination of Jack and Meg.

As for how much Meg White has contributed to the band, ponder this: The White Stripes' very existence is due to Meg's drumming. Jack was playing with various bands in Detroit at the time; but when Meg started playing around on the drums, that's when the inspiration hit him for The White Stripes and their unique stripped-down blues rock sound. Jack has said many times that Meg's simple and childlike drumming was the original inspiration for the band, it was the very thing that made their iconic sound possible in the first place. Meg is utterly essential to The White Stripes in every way. The White Stripes ARE Jack and Meg, not Jack and Anybody.

You and all the other nitwits who keep saying Jack should replace Meg with another drummer just really do NOT have a clue. And your ignorance compounded with your arrogance is what makes you, yes, an asshole. I can't say what Meg's current malaise or anxiety is due to, and it's unfair of anyone to speculate. But I'd like to think that it has nothing to do with cretins like you offering up their ignorant opinions with swollen, self-satisfied pomposity. I'd like to think that would just provoke Meg to fits of laughter.