Jack White Just Turned 50 And Got His First Cell Phone, And I'm Not Sure Which Fact I'm More Shocked By

Plenty of iconic things turned 50 this year. SNL’s 50th Season was celebrated on the 2025 TV schedule. Jaw's 50th anniversary was late last month. Oh, also, just yesterday, The White Stripes frontman, Jack White, hit the big 5-0. And while I’m low-key reeling in disbelief at the talented musician’s age, his gift is equally as jarring. His wife, Olivia Jean, got him his first (as in first-ever) cell phone, and I really don’t know which piece of information is more surprising to me.

While fellow birthday twin Tom Hanks literally jumped into his celebrations, White seemed to take his usual cool, low-key stance when it came to festivities. The big surprise first cellular device fact, and the actual present were commemorated by a post on Instagram. He explained why he finally okayed the piece of tech to come into his life, and accompanied it with a small collection of pictures of him with the gift, all provided by Jean. Check the oddly stylish mini photoshoot below:

Along with the big and shocking 2025 movie calendar and 2025 TV guide moments, The Raconteurs guitarist’s celebrations, as mentioned, are a huge surprise to me this year. Growing up in the back half of The White Stripes era, I only ever saw the duo as the epitome of young and cool musicians. Naturally, it’s where they stayed after that era, so to hear he can be found on the same page as the birth of Saturday Night Live and Jaws in the history of pop culture makes my head spin just a little bit.

Frankly, as far as the cell phone goes, here and now, I’m shocked and jealous he made it that long without having one. While the development of the telephone has been useful in many ways, and White cited that in his post, it would be nice not to have one. However, as he stated, they're a necessity in some ways because you do need one to do things like use a QR code or park in a parking lot.

Also, this phone will realistically be helpful since Jack White has been touring after releasing his “No Name” album last year.

I love that even after being in the biz for close to 30 years, he’s still surprising his fans. From an excellent body of musical work to dabbling in movies featuring A-list musicians, even if he wasn’t a lead, he still has plenty of talent to show off. Most recently, he had a small but notable role in Killers of the Flower Moon (which is available to stream with an Apple TV+ subscription).

Now, even though I have no clue what to expect from the next round of Jack White’s dueling, shocking milestones, I know they’ll be entertaining, and I can't wait.