Jack White Apologizes to the Black Keys ... FINALLY

The feud between Jack White and The Black Keys is one step closer to being squashed -- 'cause the ex-White Stripes singer released a lengthy apology Saturday to try making amends.

Rolling Stone published an interview with Jack White Saturday that seemed to further his beef with the Black Keys ... but hours later White backtracked saying his words came out wrong -- so he felt inclined to apologize.

We broke the story ... Jack's ex-wife submitted a bunch of emails last year to a judge saying the rocker was a threat to her safety -- including one message where he called Black Keys lead singer Dan Auerbach an "a**hole" who rips off his music.

Jack says his wife's lawyer only submitted the emails to "villainize me in a private legal scenario" -- and his comments were part of a "bigger scenario that is difficult to elaborate on."

As for the Keys ... Jack says he wishes them nothing but success from here on out ... and apologizes to everybody else he may have offended -- like Meg White, Adele ... and the list goes on (he's ticked off a lot of people.)