The White Stripes
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The White Stripes surprised fans yesterday with the announcement that singer/guitarist Jack White had married model Karen Elson in Brazil during the band's tour of South America. A post on the band's official Web site on Thursday confirmed the news, saying the pair were wed on June 1 "on the confluence of three rivers — the Rio Negro, the Solimones and the Amazon ... by a traditional shaman priest on a canoe at the exact point where the three rivers met. ... The ceremony was immediately followed by a blessing by a priest at a Catholic cathedral called Igreja Matric."The band's manager, Ian Montone, served as the best man, with drummer Meg White (who else?) as maid of honor. Elson appears in the video for the Stripes' latest video for the single "Blue Orchid." She is also an aspiring singer, and reportedly once dated former Smashing Pumpkins/current A Perfect Circle guitarist James Iha.
Some have suggested the timing of the wedding is merely a publicity stunt, with the Stripes' new album, Get Behind Me Satan, on the way in a week. Also, White's high-profile ex Renée Zellweger was recently married as well, in a surprise ceremony to Country singer Kenny Chesney.
Of course, the wedding announcement also kept in line with the White Stripes' self-made mythology, claiming that "this is the first marriage for both newlyweds." This is actually his second marriage. It was revealed a few years back that Jack and Meg are not brother and sister, as they continue to claim, but actually were married for four years. In fact, Jack took Meg's last name as his stage name; his birth name is John Gillis.
