Jack White on Black Keys: ‘I wish them all the success they can get’

Rolling Stone might be worrying right about now.

For the last few months the popular music magazine has served as the mouthpiece of choice for Jack White and the Black Keys, who’ve been embroiled in a rock ‘n’ roll feud of sorts that started after White accused the Keys, in a series of leaked emails, of boosting his garage-rock style.

Both acts have commented on the matter in interviews with Rolling Stone. Perhaps most explosively, if any of this can be considered explosive, White described the Keys’ music as a “watered-down version of the original” in the magazine’s current cover story.

“There are kids at school who dress like everybody else, because they don’t know what to do, and there are musicians like that, too,” White told writer Jonah Weiner. “I’ll hear TV commercials where the music’s ripping off sounds of mine, to the point I think it’s me. Half the time, it’s the Black Keys.”

You hear that? It’s the sweet sound of clicks.

Now, though, White has taken to his own website to address the feud — and perhaps bring it to an end — in a statement posted early Saturday.

Titled “An apology and explanation from Jack White,” the note begins with White saying that he’s making a statement only in the hope that he might avoid being “hounded by nonsense” as he promotes his upcoming record.

Then he insists that he was “in a way forced into talking about very private opinions of mine that are very much in the realm of ‘behind the curtain’ show business conversations.” This part goes on for a bit.

Finally, he offers up a straightforward version of his feelings on his former foes: “I wish the band the Black Keys all the success that they can get.” He goes on to send similarly positive vibes to the Keys’ label, Nonesuch, and their producer, Danger Mouse.

“Lord knows that I can tell you myself how hard it is to get people to pay attention to a two piece band with a plastic guitar, so any attention that the Black Keys can get in this world I wish it for them, and I hope their record stays in the top ten for many months and they have many more successful albums in their career,” he wrote

You can read White’s complete statement on his website. And maybe stop by Rolling Stone while you’re at it. Not unlike two-piece bands with plastic guitars, we news outlets can use all the attention we can get these days.