Jack White has revealed that The White Stripes breakthrough hit ‘Seven Nation Army’ was almost never released as a single.
After a media frenzy, The White Stripes signed to XL Recordings back in 2002. Working on their new album ‘Elephant’ many predicted that it could propel them to fame – if the right single was chosen.
The first track taken from the seminal 2003 album was ‘Seven Nation Army’ which went on to become one of the decade’s defining tracks. Now Jack White has revealed that the track was almost bypassed as a single.
Speaking to XFM the singer explained: “I wanted to put ‘Seven Nation Army’ out as a single. The label in England and the label in America both didn’t want to.”
“They wanted to put ‘There’s No Room For You Here’ (out), can you imagine not putting ‘Seven Nation Army’ out as a single?”
Initially released as a seven inch single in 2003, the track has enjoyed a lengthy trail of success being remixed multiple times. An international hit, the song’s distinctive riff was used as a chant by fans following the Italian national football team.
Meanwhile, Jack White has been busy on other projects. The White Stripes new live documentary ‘Under The Great Northern Lights’ has been released to widespread acclaim, featuring unseen footage of the band.
However the Nashville based musician is concentrating on new projects with The Dead Weather set to release their second album ‘Sea Of Cowards’ through Third Man / XL Recordings on May 7th.
