Steve Jobs cried every time he heard Joni Mitchell’s Little Green song because it reminded him of his own adoption, according to his own emails now published for the first time
- Steve Jobs was the son of a Syrian immigrant and adopted shortly after his birth
- Unearthed emails have shown a new side to the Apple founder, who died in 2011
Steve Jobs is known around the world as the genius behind Apple and a self-made billionaire – but his sensitive side has been exposed with a new revelation that he was moved to tears by the music of Joni Mitchell.
Jobs said Mitchell’s song Little Green, about giving her daughter up for adoption, reminded him of his own adoption and made him ‘cry every time I hear it’.
The son of a political migrant from Syria, Jobs was adopted shortly after he was born in California in 1955. He died aged 56 in 2011 from pancreatic cancer.
Insights have been given into the man behind the iPhone in unearthed emails from Jobs to himself, which feature in a new book on the inventor called Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words.
In an email written about Little Green in 2003, Jobs wrote: ‘Maybe it’s because I’m adopted, but this song moves me like few others. After I realised what this song was about, I cry every time I hear it.’
Steve Jobs is known around the world as the genius behind Apple whose invention made him a billionaire – but his sensitive side has been exposed in a new book written ‘in his own words’
Jobs was estranged from his biological father, Abdulfattah John Jandali, for his entire life. The inventor was adopted shortly after his birth in 1955
‘She wrote it when she was young, and it remains one of the best of her many great songs.’
Mitchell wrote the song about putting her own daughter, Kelly Dale Anderson, up for adoption in 1966 when she was a struggling singer aged 23.
The story did not become public until 1993, by which time Mitchell had gone on to become one of the most successful singer-songwriters of all time.
Her daughter claimed that she did not know she had been adopted until 1997, when she was in her late 20s.
Meanwhile, Jobs was estranged from his biological father, Abdulfattah ‘John’ Jandali, for his entire life.
He referred to his biological parents as ‘my sperm and egg bank’ and expressed to his biographer that he had ‘no interest’ in meeting his biological father.
The inventor even frequented a restaurant in Silicon Valley run by Jandali without either man ever knowing.
The revelation about Jobs’ personal life shows his respect for fellow creators and love of music.
The book on his life opens with a quote taken from an interview with Jobs in 2007: ‘one of the ways that I believe people express their appreciation to the rest of humanity is to make something wonderful and put it out there.’
Insights have been given into the inventor in unearthed emails from Jobs to himself, which feature in a new book called Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words
It also reveals that the music lover compiled and sent himself his own ‘celebrity playlist’ – which at the time was a feature on the recently-launched iTunes.
The Apple founder’s playlist, which unlike other celebs’ picks was never uploaded, features artists including Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens.
Jobs’ emotional reaction to music was not limited to Mitchell’s song, with another note in the book revealing his love for Jackson Browne’s song For A Dancer, written by the American musician about a friend who had died in a fire.
Jobs wrote: ‘I first heard this on my car radio while driving down Highway 280, and I started crying.’
The revelations have been made in the book, published yesterday by the Steve Jobs Archive, an organisation set up last year by Jobs’ friends and family including his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs.
The free digital book of the Apple executive’s emails, speeches, interview excerpts and photos was designed by Sir Jony Ive, the British former Apple design boss, and his creative agency LoveFrom.
Among other incredible revelations made in the collection is that the Apple boss kept former US president Bill Clinton waiting on the phone as he worked on production company Pixar, which he later sold to Disney.
A handwritten note on Pixarheaded paper stated: ‘Steve, President Clinton is holding.’
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