International rock icon Jack White is among the long list of artists set to bring electrifying live shows to South Africa this year, with dates confirmed for Johannesburg and Cape Town in December.
The Grammy Award winning musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist will take the stage at “The Old Park Station” in Johannesburg on Friday December 11 2026, before moving on to “Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens” in Cape Town on Monday December 14 2026.
White’s setlists are expected to pull from across his career, spanning “The White Stripes”, “The Raconteurs”, “The Dead Weather” and his solo work, alongside new material from his latest album, “Frozen Charlotte”.
South Africa’s relationship with rock music runs deep.
“The South African Rock Encyclopedia” has spent over two decades documenting the genre's evolution in the country, tracing acts from “Abstract Truth” through to Karen Zoid across five decades of homegrown rock and pop.
That lineage carries into the present through bands like Johannesburg’s “The Parlotones”, formed in 1998, who have gone on to become one of South Africa's best selling rock acts, with nine South African Music Awards (SAMAs) and a run of international tours that has seen them share stages with the likes of Coldplay and Snow Patrol.
It is against the backdrop of a country with its own long rock lineage that White’s shows arrive, offering local audiences a chance to see one of the genre’s most significant contemporary figures up close.
White first broke through internationally as one half of “The White Stripes” alongside Meg White. The duo became known for a stripped back, blues driven sound that went on to shape a generation of musicians, producing some of the most recognisable rock songs of the 2000s while carving out a bold, distinctive identity of their own.
He later expanded his reach through “The Raconteurs” and “The Dead Weather”, before building an acclaimed solo career with albums including “Blunderbuss”, “Lazaretto”, “Boarding House Reach”, “Fear of the Dawn”, “Entering Heaven Alive” and “No Name”.
Across these projects he has continued to move between blues, rock, garage, punk, folk and experimental sounds.
His latest album, “Frozen Charlotte”, is his seventh solo studio record and his first since the Grammy nominated “No Name”. Produced and mixed by White himself, the album was recorded at his Third Man Studio in Nashville shortly after wrapping the “No Name” world tour, and features 13 new songs.
Its closing track, “Neighbors Blues” is out now, following earlier singles “Dollar Bill”, “Derecho Demonico” and “G.O.D. and the Broken Ribs.”
“Dollar Bill” reportedly received acclaim from several outlets including “Rolling Stone” and “Consequence”, with several critics noting how the song’s unconventional guitar work and abstract lyrics tackle the theme of money in a way that feels fresh for White.
Beyond his music, White has played a key role in preserving music culture through “Third Man Records”, the label, studio and creative venture he founded, which has become closely tied to vinyl culture and independent music making.
For South African audiences, the December shows are a chance to experience decades of that work live, from The White Stripes’ unmistakable sound to the energy of “The Raconteurs” and “The Dead Weather”, and the depth of his solo catalogue.
culture_thenational@nationalmg.co.za