The White Stripes were an American rock duo formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums within the Detroit music scene, The White Stripes rose to prominence in 2002, as part of the garage rock revival scene. Their successful and critically acclaimed albums White Blood Cells and Elephant drew attention from a large variety of media outlets in the United States and the United Kingdom, with the single "Seven Nation Army" and its bass line becoming their signature song.

The White Stripes' third album, White Blood Cells, was released on July 3, 2001 on Sympathy for the Record Industry. The band enjoyed its first significant success the following year with the major label re-release of the album on V2 Records.  Its stripped-down garage rock sound drew critical acclaim in the UK, and in the US soon afterward, making The White Stripes one of the most acclaimed bands of 2002.  Several outlets praised their "back to basics" approach, with Daily Mirror calling them "the greatest band since The Sex Pistols." In 2002, Q magazine listed The White Stripes as one of "50 Bands to See Before You Die". After their first appearance on network TV (a live set on The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn), Joe Hagan of the New York Times declared, "They have made rock rock again by returning to its origins as a simple, primitive sound full of unfettered zeal." White Blood Cells peaked at number 61 on the Billboard 200, reaching Gold record status by selling over 500,000 albums. It reached number 55 in the United Kingdom, being bolstered in both countries by the single "Fell in Love with a Girl" and its accompanying Lego-animation music video directed by Michel Gondry. The video won three awards at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards: Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects, and Best Editing, and the band played the song live at the event. It was also nominated for Video of the Year, but fell short of winning. Stylus Magazine rated White Blood Cells as the fourteenth greatest album of 2000-2005, while Pitchfork Media ranked it eighth on their list of the top 100 albums from 2000-2004.  In 2002, George Roca produced and directed a concert film about the band titled Nobody Knows How to Talk to Children. It chronicles The White Stripes' four-night stand at New York City's Bowery Ballroom in 2002, and contains live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Its 2004 release was suppressed by the band's management, however, after they discovered that Roca had been showing it at the Seattle Film Festival without permission. According to the band, the film was "not up to the standards our fans have come to expect"; even so, it remains a highly prized bootleg.

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