The White Stripes' summer plans have been stalled by Jack White's finger.
The broken one.
White, the rock duo's 27-year-old guitarist/singer, sustained a compound fracture of the left index finger in a car crash last Wednesday in his native Detroit, V2 Records said.
The White Stripes, not to be confused with "the"-titled "It" bands, the Hives and the Strokes, were scheduled to begin playing a fresh series of U.S. dates Saturday in Rhode Island.
But the Stripes' label announced Tuesday that all concerts through August 10 were postponed. Wiped out, for now, are dates in 16 cities in the states and Canada, from New York City to Milwaukee.
V2 Records said the band would try to reschedule the shows.
"The White Stripes deeply value the relationship they have with their fans and regret any inconvenience caused by these current events," the label said in a statement.
Details of the crash were sketchy. Detroit Police said they had no report on the accident. A flack for the White Stripes knew only of the location (Detroit), the broken finger (one) and the time of the accident (1 p.m.).
According to the Detroit News, White suffered the tough break when the car he was riding in was struck by another.
Reports that White Stripe fan Renée Zellweger was in White's car at the time of the crash could not be confirmed by the band's publicity firm. A call to Zellweger's rep was not immediately returned Monday. For what it's worth, the reports said that Zellweger, romantically linked with White since June, was unhurt.
The Stripes, late of the best-selling album, Elephant, are due to wing it to England in late August for a pair of festivals, before returning to the states in September, commanding venues such as Los Angeles' Greek Theater. Right now, those dates are still on.
Already the dinged digit has cost the band the chance to front a pair of U.K. rock-a-ramas--Scotland's T in the Park, held last Saturday, and Ireland's Witness Festival, held last Sunday.
During at least one of the festivals, T in the Park, the Stripes were there in props, if not in person. British music site NME.com reports the stage, held by hastily enlisted headliner the Flaming Lips ("She Don't Use Jelly"), was decked out in the band's beloved red-and-white color scheme.
The White Stripes are comprised of Jack and Meg White, who is either Jack White's ex-wife or sister, depending on which chain they feel like yanking. One thing that's for sure: She's the drummer.
The Jack White-Renée Zellweger connection presumably goes back to the set of Cold Mountain, the Civil War-era drama in which Zellweger stars and White makes his big-screen debut. The movie is due out at Christmas.
With or without White, Zellweger, 34, seems hooked on the rock-star life, recently signing to star in a long-delayed biopic about 1960s icon Janis Joplin.