The White Stripes have announced they have split up.

A statement posted yesterday (February 1) on their official website, Whitestripes.com, explained that the Detroit duo would make “no further new recordings or perform live”.

The statement read: “The reason is not due to artistic differences or lack of wanting to continue, nor any health issues as both Meg and Jack [White] are feeling fine and in good health.”

In 2007 the band cancelled world tour dates as drummer Meg was suffering from acute anxiety. They have not played live since that year.

The statement continued: “It [the split] is for a myriad of reasons, but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way.”

The band also left a personal message to their fans on the site. “The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore,” they wrote. “The White Stripes belongs to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to.”

They also explained that music from the band, including unreleased material, would continue to be put out by Jack White‘s record label, Third Man Records.

The blues-rock pair released their first, self-titled album in 1999 then made a mainstream breakthrough in 2001 with their third album, ‘White Blood Cells’. Their last full album release was 2007’s ‘Icky Thump’ and they released a live album, ‘Under Great White Northern Lights’, last year.

Jack White currently fronts The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, whose second album, ‘Sea Of Cowards’, came out last year.

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