To the surprise and delight of attendees, rock musician Jack White proposed and exchanged wedding vows with his girlfriend, singer-songwriter Olivia Jean, while onstage during his homecoming Detroit concert at the Masonic Temple Theatre, Friday night.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the proposal took place near the end of the show, and a wedding ceremony was held during the encore five minutes afterward. Producing a “jubilant jolt for the crowd,” the onstage ceremony was officiated by Third Man Records’ Ben Swank. The respective bass players for White and Jean served as the couple’s best man and maid of honor, and the wedding was attended by family and friends, including White’s mother Theresa Gillis.
Jean, a member of his record label’s Black Belles — all-female garage goth rock trio — and the show’s opener, was invited to the stage 80 minutes into the set and introduced to the crowd as White’s girlfriend. “And I love her very much,” he said.
As the two performed White Stripes’ “Hotel Yorba,” White headed to the side of the stage to prompt his assistant Lalo Medina to begin video recording on his phone ahead of the song’s verse beginning with the words “Let’s get married.”
“I’ve got a question for you,” White said, according to the Detroit Free Press. “Will you marry me?” Jean, clearly overcome, said yes and helped finish the song before White carried her offstage.
The show, which kicked off White’s Supply Chain Issues Tour, was the first of two slated in his hometown of Detroit and marked the release of his new album “Fear of the Dawn.” His second 2022 release, “Entering Heaven Alive,” is due July 22.
This is White’s third marriage. He was previously wed to his White Stripes bandmate Meg White from 1996 to 2000 and supermodel Karen Elson from 2005 to 2013.
