Ongoing History Daily: Jack White’s alternate career choices

Jack White didn’t set out to be a rock star. As the tenth of ten children in a devout Detroit Catholic family, he had his heart set on becoming a priest when he was 14. But when he realized he couldn’t take his guitar to the seminary—he’s already been accepted—he decided that the priesthood wasn’t for him.

When he was 16, he thought he’d like to upholster furniture for a living and even got a job as an apprentice in a local shop. But his boss was also into music and for a brief time, they played together in a band called—what else? —The Upholsterers.

A few years later, Jack was playing drums in a couple of local bands when he met Meg White. He was still in school at the time. One day, Meg was over and started banging on his drums and that became the start of the White Stripes.

So much for the priesthood and the upholstery business.

If we go back to Friday’s Ongoing History Daily, we spoke of some weird fan violence.