Rock icon Jack White is mourning the loss of a man who helped shape his life long before the future rock star ever picked up the guitar riffs that would make him famous.
White announced that his older brother Edward Gerard Gillis died on Oct. 23 after a battle with cancer. He was 60.
“The world lost a beautiful soul today,” White wrote in an emotional Instagram tribute to his brother. “My brother Edward Gerard Gillis has passed over to heaven this morning after having fought a tough battle against cancer.”
White remembered Eddie as a “caring, funny and generous person that everybody loved,” as well as a devoted husband to his wife, Angie, and father to their two children, Amelia and Garrett.
But Gillis also played an important role in White’s musical life years before the White Stripes turned his younger brother into one of rock’s most recognizable guitarists.
“In his youth Eddie was the guitar player in the family when we were all growing up back when I was on drums only, and he was just great at the instrument,” White recalled.
The brothers even had opportunities to play together over the years, including one memorable performance for the Detroit Tigers during spring training in Florida.
White also credited his brother with teaching him some of life’s smaller lessons that stayed with him.
“He taught me so many wonderful and simple things over the years that I’ll never forget; how to string a guitar, how to fish on the Detroit river, how to drive a stick shift,” he wrote.
Gillis eventually became part of White’s Third Man Records operation as well. He managed the Third Man Pressing plant in Detroit for 10 years, where White said his brother pressed hundreds of thousands of records for other artists.
According to The Detroit News, Gillis didn’t have a background in record pressing or manufacturing when he was hired. Instead, White’s business partner and nephew Ben Blackwell said Gillis got the job because he knew how to lead people.
“He knew how to motivate people,” Blackwell told the outlet.
Away from the pressing machines, Gillis found another creative use for the plant’s materials, turning discarded vinyl into small sculptures and flowers. He had previously worked as a pastry chef, including jobs at the Ritz-Carlton and Beaumont Hospital.
White’s tribute concluded with a heartbreaking goodbye to the big brother who had been teaching him things since childhood.
“He was an amazing big brother to me and i just hate to see him leave, but I’m glad he is at peace,” White wrote. “God bless you Eddie.”
White, who rose to fame alongside Meg White in the White Stripes before launching a successful solo career and playing with the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather, has repeatedly been recognized as one of the most influential guitarists of his generation. Rolling Stone has included him on multiple editions of its greatest guitarists rankings, placing him as high as No. 17.
Following White’s announcement, fans flooded his Instagram post with condolences, prayers and memories.
“Rest in Peace Sweet Uncle Eddie. What a loss,” one commenter wrote, adding, “now you have another angel watching over the family.”
Another told White, “You can tell by his smile he was kind, generous and loved people,” while offering prayers for the family.
“What a devastating year, Jack,” another fan wrote. “I am so deeply sorry for your losses.”
One commenter focused on the relationship White described between the brothers, writing, “It must have been great to have a big brother that cool and to have him show you stuff along the way.”
White ended his own remembrance with the simplest expression of what Gillis had meant to him.
“I was lucky to play music together with him at times throughout our lives,” he wrote.
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This story was originally published by Parade on Oct 24, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.