Karen Elson defends Meg White against White Stripes drum criticism

Karen Elson has joined the band of musicians stepping in to defend Meg White after the former drummer was criticized by a reporter on Twitter.

A tweet surfaced this week from political journalist Lachlan Markay claiming that The White Stripes would have been a better band with “a halfway decent drummer.”

“Yeah yeah I heard all that but it’s a carefully crafted sound mannn! takes. I’m sorry Meg White was awful and no band is better suited to having crappy percussion,” Markay continued.

The reporter’s opinion was largely refuted by the music industry. Elson, who was married to Meg’s ex-husband and bandmate Jack White between 2005 and 2013, tweeted: “Not only is Meg White a fantastic drummer, Jack said the White Stripes would be nothing without her.

“To the journalist who dissed her, keep my ex-husband’s ex-wife’s name out of your damn mouth. (Please and thank you).”

As answer to The IndependentWhen asked for comment, Markay referred to his Twitter thread where he apologized for the tweet.

“By now you’ve probably seen an ill-advised (and now deleted) tweet I sent out yesterday about the White Stripes and Meg White. It was an over-the-top version of TWS and White as drummer and, let’s be honest, it was just plain awful in every way. Petty, disgusting, just plain wrong,” he wrote.

“…To Meg White: I’m sorry. Really. And women in the music business in general, who I think are disproportionately exposed to this type of shit, I’m sorry I fed that too. I’ll really try to be more thoughtful going forward, both here and away.”

Jack and Meg were married between 1996 and 2000. They originally presented themselves as siblings until public records revealed they were partners.

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Grammy winner Questlove also responded to Markay on Twitter, writing: “I’m trying to keep ‘Troll Views’ alone but this is out of series af. Actually, what’s wrong with the music is that people choke the life out of the music like an Instagram filter—trying to get a high of musical perfection that doesn’t even serve the song (or the music).”

He added in another tweet: “That’s why I’m going down that Dilla path and playing like a drunk sloppy amateur because those flaws are the human element in the music that’s missing. Real Movie >>>>>>> IG Filter Photo.”

It’s not the first time Meg has been criticized for what she calls her “original” style of drumming.

In a 2002 interview, she said, “I appreciate other types of drummers that play differently, but that’s not my style or what works for this band. i get [criticism] sometimes, and I go through periods where it really bothers me. But then I think about it and realize that’s what this band really needs. And I just try to have as much fun with it as possible.”

The White Stripes disbanded in 2011. Meg, who suffers from acute anxiety, describes herself as “very shy” and keeps a low profile in public.