The sold-out audience at Jack White‘s Madison Square Garden concert were completely stunned when Q-Tip joined the stage with the singer. The legendary New York native and the rock star performed White’s “That Black Bat Licorice” and A Tribe Called Quest‘s “Excursions.” Jack White’s opening act was Run the Jewels, and they brought out Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine. The artists performed “Close Your Eyes (And Count to F-ck)” together. Jack White also performed several White Stripes’ records including “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” “Hotel Yorba,” “Cannon,” “We’re Going to Be Friends,” and “Ball and Biscuit.”
Jack White released his first solo album, Blunderbuss, in 2012. The entire album was written, produced, and recorded by White. Blunderbuss went to Number 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and eventually received a Gold certification in 2013. The album was nominated for five Grammy Awards, and two of the singles from the album (“Freedom at 21” and “I’m Shakin“) received three of the nominations. White’s sophomore album, Lazaretto, was released last year. The album produced five singles including “High Ball Stepper,” “Lazaretto,” and “Just One Drink.” Lazaretto was released in digital, CD, and vinyl editions. The vinyl release sold 40,000 copies, and it set a record for most vinyl sales in one week. By the end of the year, Lazaretto would go on to sell 87,000 vinyl copies, making it the biggest-selling vinyl of 2014.
White spoke to Dan Rather (during The Big Interview segment) about the success of the vinyl version of Lazaretto, “I think when you listen to music on an iPod, and I do in my car and all that, you’re like, ‘This is the song, but this isn’t really the record. The record is the vinyl record.” White continued, “What’s great about it is that, I think things have gotten so invisible with music on a listening level, that the demand for [vinyl] over the last decade has just risen and risen and risen.” To date, Lazaretto has sold over 325,000 copies in the US. The album is nominated for Best Alternative Album at this year’s Grammy Awards. The single “Lazaretto” is also nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance.