{"id":470273,"date":"2026-09-20T21:00:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T21:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/470273\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T21:00:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T21:00:55","slug":"rock-legend-jack-white-to-make-rare-appearance-at-san-francisco-bookstore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/470273\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock legend Jack White to make rare appearance at San Francisco bookstore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Expect to see a long line winding down Kerouac Alley in North Beach on Wednesday morning: Rock legend, and one half of the White Stripes, Jack White<\/a>, is scheduled to make an appearance at City Lights Books as he signs copies of his new book, “Jack White Collected Lyrics and Selected Writing.” But if you were hoping to cross paths with the songwriter and guitarist behind hits like “Seven Nation Army” and “We’re Going to Be Friends,” you’re out of luck – the event reportedly ran out of free tickets within minutes<\/a> of the historic bookstore’s Friday announcement.<\/p>\n

“There is no waiting list,” City Lights staff wrote on its webpage for the event, which starts at noon. “We kindly ask that people not loiter around the store waiting for admittance.”<\/p>\n

White will discuss the anthology, published<\/a> in January by Third Man Books, an offshoot of his record label Third Man Records, with City Lights’ events director and outreach coordinator, Peter Maravelis. The book contains a collection of lyrics from the Detroit-born musician’s solo recordings, as well as collaborations with side project The Raconteurs and supergroup the Dead Weather. It also features rarely seen photos and essays by award-winning poet Adrian Matejka, filmmaker and writer dream hampton and Third Man Records cofounder Ben Blackwell.<\/p>\n

Author and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib praised the book in a news release, writing that “evil and optimism wrestle with each other, longing and a hunger for loneliness tussle in the same bed.” He added that it melded themes of “cynicism and desire, rage and tenderness\u2026 All of these things seamlessly stitch together and come alive on the page.”<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

Jack White’s surprise show at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Friday sold out in minutes. (Scott Legato\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Kicking off his musical career as an altar boy<\/a> in the 1980s, White sought early inspiration from his older brothers, picking up the instruments they left behind when they moved out of the house. As a teenager, an interest in the blues and groups like the Doors, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin influenced his sound, and though he initially had plans to go to seminary school and become a priest, he opted out when he realized he wouldn’t be able to take his new amp with him<\/a>. During his senior year of high school, he met Meg White, whom he later started the White Stripes with and was married to until 2000, despite the couple claiming publicly that they were siblings.<\/p>\n

The band released six studio albums, including the critically acclaimed “White Blood Cells” and “Elephant,” before breaking up in 2011. White moved onto a solo career, with stints in acting and producing, appearing as Elvis Presley in the 2007 musical satire send-up, “Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story” and in Martin Scorsese’s 2023 drama “Killers of the Flower Moon.” He has won 12 Grammys and was inducted<\/a> into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Meg last year.<\/p>\n

White’s appearance at City Lights comes as he plays two shows in San Francisco in support of his latest record “Frozen Charlotte.” Later on Wednesday night, he’ll make a stop at the Fillmore, which has some resale tickets topping $400. The next day, he plays at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, which still has tickets available starting at $104. He last performed in San Francisco at the Masonic in May 2025; the previous year, he played a surprise show at the Great American Music Hall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On its website, City Lights asked fans to “please refrain from bringing memorabilia, albums, and other objects for signing. Jack will only sign copies of COLLECTED LYRICS AND SELECTED WRITINGS.”<\/p>\n

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Get SFGATE’s top stories sent to your inbox by signing up for The Daily newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally published at Rock legend Jack White to make rare appearance at San Francisco bookstore<\/a>.<\/p>\n