Who Is Jack White's Wife, Olivia Jean Markel?
The White Stripes’ lead singer, Jack White, just got married again. He reportedly got engaged and married fellow singer Olivia Jean Markel on the same night during one of his concerts, surprising fans of the musician everywhere. So, who is Jack White’s wife, Olivia Jean Markel? Here’s everything to know.
Jack White and Olivia Jean Markel married on stage in April 2022
According to The Detroit News, Jack White was playing a show in Detroit, Michigan, when the surprise wedding happened on April 8, 2022. The show, which took place at the Masonic Temple, involved bringing his girlfriend, Olivia Jean Markel, on stage to perform a duet of The White Stripes’ “Hotel Yorba.” White then told the crowd that his girlfriend, Markel, was on stage with him. Finally, he told her had a question for her — and he asked her if she would marry him. She said yes, and he followed the yes by singing the line in the song that states, “Let’s get married.”
The engagement wasn’t long, though. After a break, White returned to the stage and said, “It’s been such a great day; mind if we get married right now?” The rest of White’s band, White’s mother, and Markel’s father gathered on the stage for the quick wedding. After officially getting married, White continued with the concert.
The Detroit News reports everyone was shocked by the events — even Markel’s father. “I had no idea,” he said.
Who is Jack White’s wife, Olivia Jean Markel?
So, who is Jack White’s wife, Olivia Jean Markel? HuffPost reports Markel was born on Feb. 23, 1990, to a middle-class Detroit family — and she started making music at an incredibly young age. “I’ve been doing this my entire life since I’ve been in elementary school,” she said. “So, making music is all I want to do.”
According to Deadline Detroit, Markel moved to Nashville to record with White’s company, Third Man Records. White invited Markel to Tennessee and helped Markel in the formation of the Black Belles. The Black Belles are an all-female goth/garage band trio that includes Markel, drummer Shelby Lynne, and bassist Ruby Rogers.
“I had a recording that I gave to Jack, and it was mostly instrumental music, but it was a jumping-off point for like, some project to begin,” Markel told Interview Magazine about forming the band. “I did it for myself, but I didn’t play anything live because I didn’t have a band. But once we all met, we kind of collaborated together and shared ideas, threw all those ideas together, and we had a lot of material to work with.”
When asked about her relationship with White, Markel told Interview Magazine she always had a great experience working with him despite also dating him. “[Jack] was always helping us out, and believed in all of our opinions and what we wanted to do, and helped us make those things happen,” she added. “As you said about all of us having the same taste, he really has very similar taste to us as well! It was very easy to work with him. He helped us out the entire way.”
What happened with Jack White’s previous wife, Karen Elson?
Most White Stripes fans know about Jack White and Meg White’s relationship, but what about Jack White’s second wife, Karen Elson? According to the Daily Mail, they married in 2005 and divorced in 2013. They have two teenage kids and remain good friends after the divorce.
“I look at him and think ‘You’re my family,'” she told Harper’s Bazaar U.K, according to the Daily Mail. “I know him as ‘Dad’ — I roll my eyes at his dad jokes and I offer him advice when our teenagers are giving him grief.”
It seems Elson and White simply lost steam with their relationship, though they did try the trendy “conscious uncoupling” before deciding to move forward alone. “Every divorce has its challenging moments,” she said. “We first tried to do the Goopy conscious-uncoupling thing. That all fell on its head, but now I can wholeheartedly say that my ex-husband is a dear friend and someone I love. Our relationship is purely that of parents.”
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