Undeniable Co-ed Duos

Male-female duos have made extraordinary music over the decades. In honor of our White Stripes “From the Basement” set, featuring drummer Meg White and singer-guitarist Jack White, we celebrate some of the best co-ed combos in the history of rock, pop, soul, hip-hop and country.

June and Johnny Cash
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“We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout,” they once sang — and the world was a better place for it. The merger of two of country music’s most revered families was a perfect match that endured for decades, with June’s humor and sass balancing Johnny’s granite gravitas.

Greg Kot is the editorial director of The Coda Collection. He is also the cohost of the nationally syndicated public-radio show and podcast “Sound Opinions” with Jim DeRogatis, and previously the music critic at the Chicago Tribune for 30 years. His books include acclaimed biographies of Mavis Staples (“I’ll Take You There”) and Wilco (“Learning How to Die”) and a history of the digital music revolution (“Ripped”). He also coauthored “The Beatles vs. the Rolling Stones: Sound Opinions on the Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Rivalry” and has written extensively for Rolling Stone, BBC Culture and Encyclopedia Britannica. When he takes off the headphones, Kot coaches in his Chicago-based youth travel basketball program (OTEhoops.com). In addition, he has coauthored two best-selling editions of the book “Survival Guide to Coaching Youth Basketball.”

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