Jack White has announced the death of his older brother, Edward “Eddie” Gillis, who died Saturday, October 24, after a battle with cancer.
Gillis managed Third Man Pressing, White’s vinyl pressing plant in Detroit. “The world lost a beautiful soul today,” White wrote on Instagram. “Ed was such a caring, funny and generous person that everybody loved.”
Gillis spent 10 years managing Third Man Pressing, overseeing the production of “hundreds of thousands” of records for the label’s artists, White said. The plant opened in 2017 as an extension of White’s Third Man Records.
White, born John Anthony Gillis, is the youngest of 10 children. He credited Eddie with helping shape his musical development, recalling how his older brother was the family’s guitarist when White was still playing drums.
“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 wrote. “I was lucky to play music together with him at times throughout our lives, once even for the Detroit Tigers while they were at spring training in Florida with our old band that included Dominic Davis on bass.”
“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,” White continued. “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 added that his brother “was also an acclaimed pastry chef that ran kitchens and bake shops for the Ritz Carlton hotel and Beaumont Hospital. He did so much while he was on this planet.”
Gillis is survived by his wife, Angie, and their two children, Amelia and Garrett.
