Jack White has never been scared to instruct Satan to get behind him, well, at least not since 2005. Now, we know a bit more about White’s fearlessness when it comes to the Devil of Christianity amid a controversy that found the frontman of The White Stripes offering an opening spot on a show to a Satanic musical act.
“I’m not scared of Satan or any bullshit imagery man made up to live in fear of,” White declared in a social media post responding to questions about his religious beliefs after inviting Satanic doo-wop duo Twin Temple to open for him at the Hollywood Palladium in September. The duo quickly and graciously accepted.
So there you go, White isn’t scared of Satan. Now, the title of The White Stripe’s 2005 album Get Behind Me Satan, beyond being a verse in the Bible, has a bit more context.
A social media user had questioned White’s decisions to offer a hand to Twin Temple, saying to White “As a practicing Catholic, how do you see promoting a band associated with satanic imagery fitting with your faith? It seems at odds with values Catholicism teaches.”
White was raised as a Catholic with both his parents working for the diocese in Detroit. He met Pope John Paul II and got a hug as a child. White even has said he considered becoming a priest but backed out just before going to seminary.
But the religion has little to do with his life today, according to White, who responded to the social media user by saying “I never claimed to be a practicing catholic or christian, you assumed that.”
After saying he wasn’t scared of Satan, White espoused more on his thoughts about religion. “Commune with god on your own terms and communicate with god and find your own path, not some path somebody made up to make you afraid and make money off of you,” the musician wrote.
The whole religious discussion comes after Charley Crockett booted Twin Temple from opening slots on his tour with the country crooner telling Rolling Stone “I thought they were like Black Sabbath, but they ain’t. Not today, Satan.”
Crockett has since responded to White’s booking of Twin Temple in a series of social media posts.
“FUCK TRUMP FUCK EPSTEIN BUT HAIL SATAN? NOT ME JACK,” he wrote in one post.
In another post, he wrote:
“I won’t conform and I’m not sorry. There are many things I’ve done in my life to apologize for but this ain’t one of them. I might wake up at 1pm on the back of that bus and find out that the opener ain’t working for me that night. Tough luck. Life is hard. This ain’t no temp agency. Get to stepping. Shit you might get you a life changing gig just by standing next to me. That’s magic. Im not gonna advertise my charity out here because as soon as you do, it ain’t nothing but self promotion. I’m not on the left. I’m not on the right. I’m on the road, and that’s a hard way to go. Believe me, the would kill you bronc. I don’t give a damn whether you think I’m right or wrong. They say love your struggle. I say love the strength the creator gave you to overcome your struggle. Dont believe in any kind of spiritual power? I’m sorry to hear that. God is the fabric that ties all life together. No need to even define or institutionalize it. The entertainment business is chock full of shameless exhibitionists possessed by the desire to be famous and have the public’s adoration. I swear they’d kill a relative. I see them everywhere. Been betrayed by many. Always stricken by the crack smoke and just dying to get ahead. I love what I do and I’m grateful for the privilege every minute, and if everybody disappears I’ll go back to the street corner where I started. Hell sometimes I dream about it. Shout out to Angel in New Orleans who told me that if you wanna get high boy you got to start down low. I’ve found that about the only help you get out here in this business is when they lower the box.”
In other news, White commenced his 2026 North American tour in support of his new album Frozen Charlotte Friday night with an almost two-hour long concert at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. featuring solo favorites like “Old Scratch Blues” and “Lazaretto” new tunes such as “All Alone Again” and “Nobody Knows,” as well as songs from the catalogues of The Raconteurs, and, of course, The White Stripes. He ended the night with “Seven Nation Army.”
White also played “G.O.D And the Broken Ribs” and “Archbishop Harold Holmes,” a 2024 song about a traveling religious man promising to cure town residents’ ailments with lyrical reference to “a special financial blessing,” showing that the beliefs about religion he expressed over social media recently have been out in the open for a while.
Fans can look for tickets for Jack White’s tour dates via Ticketmaster.
