Jack White Saves Masonic Temple With Large Donation

Jack White has a accrued a lot of interesting and expensive items in the time since the White Stripes made him a celebrity. If you’ve ever seen the episode of History’s American Pickers where the two pickers travel to the musician’s home, you’ll know exactly what I mean. However, he’s shown an amazing capacity for generosity, as well, most recently when he donated $142,000 to the Detroit Masonic Temple in Michigan.

The Detroit Masonic Temple was dangerously close to closure, thanks to owing a significant amount of money in back taxes. An anonymous benefactor gave the needed money to the Masonic Temple in order to get it back on its feet and on Tuesday, the Detroit Free Press revealed that the benefactor was none other than Jack White. In light of the news coming out, the Detroit Masonic Temple said it would rename the theater as the Jack White Theater.

White has a pretty big history with the Detroit Masonic Temple. As a Detroit native, he grew up in the city well aware of the history of the venue, which has housed many famous acts, The Rolling Stones included, over the years. His mother was an usher at the popular venue and White was later to play seven gigs there while as a part of the White Stripes and has played two solo shows at the venue, as well. Celebrities often choose different charities or ways to help out groups or businesses in need and I can’t think of a better way for White to contribute than to throw money back into his hometown and into a business that has housed his art over the years. We'll have to wait and see if the business follows through with that name change, though.