Jack White finally owns a mobile phone.
The White Stripes frontman celebrated his 50th birthday on Wednesday (09.07.25) and revealed to his followers that his wife had made him the "reluctant owner" of a mobile handset after years of struggling to listen to music in his car or adapt to modern ways of life without one.
He wrote on Instagram: "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!
The rock star concluded his post by noting that he is still "proud" of himself for going without a phone up until he reached the age of 50 and signed off by telling his fans that he will talk to them all soon.
He said: "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. 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." -JWIII"
In 2018, Jack made the decision to implement a phone ban at his concerts and explained at the time that he wants his audience to be "engaged" in what they are watching.
He said: "I really react to the crowd, just like a stand-up comedian would … If I finish a song and go, ‘Ta-da!’, and it’s crickets, I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t know what to do now.’ Am I supposed to play a heavier song, a faster song? Do you want me to play acoustic? Do you want me to leave? I’ll leave!’ But what I don’t like is, ‘Is that how they really feel, or are they just not even paying attention because they’re not engaged … because they’re texting?’
"When you go to a movie theater, a symphony, church, whatever – there are all these moments in life where people put those away and engage.
“And I love the idea of rock concerts being punk as hell and there are no rules. I love that. But I don’t like the idea that I have no idea what to play next. And I need that. Because I’ve walked offstage before like, ‘Man, I don’t know what to do anymore. If this is how it’s going to be from now on, it’s going to be very difficult.”
