"Lazaretto" is the first single from

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

's second solo album of the same name. The live version of the song was recorded, pressed and released on the same day (19 April 2014). On the B-side was a cover of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

's song "Power of My Love". By recording, pressing and releasing the live version of "Lazaretto" in less than four hours, Jack White broke the previous Guinness World Record set by Swiss polka trio Vollgas Kompanie, who issued their album Live on August 16, 2008, a day after they recorded it. There is a hidden message alongside matrix numbers in the runout areas on both sides of the "Lazaretto" "world's fastest record" vinyl: side A "Guinness", side B "Can Kiss My..." The studio version of the song was released on April 21 on YouTube, and on April 22 the single was available for purchase digitally and as an instant download with all iTunes ''Lazaretto'' album pre-orders. A music video for "Lazaretto" was created by

Jonas & François Jonas & François (Jonas Euvremer, François Rousselet), born in 1982, is a French directing team of music videos and commercials. They are signed to Division Paris for global rep. Videography 2006 :Kavinsky - "Testarossa Autodrive" 2007 :Just ...

. The song is a playable track in ''

Guitar Hero Live ''Guitar Hero Live'' is a 2015 music rhythm video game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the seventh main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xb ...

'' and ''

Rock Band 4 ''Rock Band 4'' is a 2015 music video game developed and published by Harmonix. ''Rock Band 4'' allows players to simulate the playing of music across many different decades and genres using instrument controllers that mimic playing lead and bas ...

''. The song could also be heard in the TV Show ''Black Lighting''.

Background

According to White, the musical arrangement to "Lazaretto" was inspired by

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first ...

's 1989 hit single " Cha Cha Cha".

Critical reception

In one positive review that emphasized White's guitar prowess, ''

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'' wrote that the single "is in-and-out, leaving the listener panting and ready to hear more from White's new album." Giving the single four stars, Chuck Arnold of ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' said that on the track, White "unleashes one of his funkiest grooves since '

Seven Nation Army "Seven Nation Army" is a song by American rock duo the White Stripes. It is the opening track on their fourth studio album, ''Elephant'' (2003). V2 Records released the song to American alternative radio on February 17, 2003, as the lead single f ...

'." Madison Vain, with ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' called the song a "dense, manic, and fantastically indulgent display of musicality," and said it "further cement his position as rock & roll's primal keeper of the flame."(December 12, 2014), "THE BEST SINGLES." Vain, Madison. "Entertainment Weekly" (1341):66-67 The song was nominated for two Grammy Awards—

Best Rock Song The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several ...

and

Best Rock Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...

—winning the latter.

Track listing

* 7" vinyl # "Lazaretto" – 3:57 # "Power of My Love" – 5:00

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

*Jack White – vocals, electric guitar *Daru Jones – drums *Dominic Davis – bass *Fats Kaplin – fiddle *Ikey Owens – Moog synth *Cory Younts – Korg synth

References

2014 singles Songs written by Jack White Jack White songs Third Man Records singles 2014 songs Black-and-white music videos {{2014-single-stub