Thus it began

​The most painful thing about the breakup letter the White Stripes just sent to an already distraught Internet is the red, white, and black border -- yet another example of the painstaking dedication and attention to detail that made Jack and Meg White megastars in the first place. The quick note, leading off with the declaration that the band "has officially ended and will make no further recordings or perform live," tries to cut off any immediate follow-up questions: no creative differences, no health issues, just a desire "to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way." The band had been dormant for years as Jack indulged side project after side project; the 2009 documentary Under Great White Northern Lights freely alluded to what was clearly a fraught situation, "cataloging," as our own Zach Baron put it, "all the different ways two people can be lonely." They have been sorely missed for years, and will now be actively, emphatically mourned, as they'd be if the only song they'd ever released was "Ball and Biscuit," which is the raddest shit ever.

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