John Peel’s funeral cost The White Stripes thousands

The White Stripes spent thousands of dollars and endured back-to-back Transatlantic trips to attend the funeral of beloved British DJ John Peel in 2004. The American rock duo performed in the U.K. the week before Peel’s star-studded memorial service, so they had to fly home to the U.S. and then back to England again just days later.
However, Jack White insists he and his bandmate Meg would have done anything to make sure they were there to say goodbye to their late pal, telling telling MOJO magazine, “That trip cost me and Meg $25,000 but that was nothing, we loved John so much, there was no way we weren’t going to the funeral.”
White adds of Peel’s rock ‘n’ roll send off, “There was some beautiful moments at the service like me, Meg, Robert Plant and a blind priest getting stuck together in a jam for 30 seconds… And they played Teenage Kicks as part of the funeral procession. I’d never heard of a rock ‘n’ roll song played in a church before.”
Peel had a close relationship with The White Stripes over the years after becoming one of the first DJs in the U.K. to tip them for success. He also invited them to record in his home. He died in 2004 aged 65 after suffering a heart attack.
The White Stripes split in 2011.