Jack White writes from the White Stripes recovery room

Jack White has apologised to fans for The White Stripes' no show at Witnness.

Writing on the band's website, he says: "I broke my finger, three breaks, car wreck, horrible left turn in front of me, no chance of escape, air bag, the air near my fingers, devil in my left hand, doctors say no way, lots of pain, typing with one finger, made it through year of rock 'n' roll death, got off with just a warning.

"Apologies to those wishing to see my hand live, soon enough I'm sure, now me and Meg can share war stories, I love when we share, like once there was a monkey, and we shared the experience as children."

All very stream of consciousness! He says he "got off with a warning" because the crash took place on his 28th birthday, and Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison all died when they were 27.

The latest medical bulletin suggests that White won't be able to play guitar for at least six weeks, which means the cancellation of all their summer festival appearances.