Steve Jobs cried at Joni Mitchell song which reminded him of his adoption, his emails show

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 Joni Mitchell’s music.

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.”

Jobs, the son of a political migrant from Syria, was adopted shortly after he was born in California in 1955. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2011 at the age of 56.

Insights into the man behind the iPhone have been given in unearthed emails from Jobs to himself, which feature in a new book about the inventor called Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in His Own Words.

In an email he wrote about Little Green in 2003, Jobs wrote, “Maybe it’s because I’m adopted, but this song moves me like few others. After I realized what this song was about, I cry every time I hear it.’

“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 at age 23.

The story didn’t become public until 1993, by which time Mitchell had become one of the most successful singer-songwriters of all time.

Her daughter claimed she didn’t know she was adopted until 1997, when she was in her late twenties.

Meanwhile, Jobs had been estranged from his biological father, Abdulfattah “John” Jandali, throughout his life.

He called his biological parents “my sperm and egg bank” and told his biographer that he had “no interest” in meeting his biological father.

The couple got Jobs out of wedlock and gave him up before getting married and having another child, daughter Mona Simpson (née Jandali) who became a successful writer.

It was later discovered that the inventor frequented a Silicon Valley restaurant run by Jandali, without either of the men ever knowing.

Jobs’s relationship with his birth mother, Joanne Schieble, is said to have been amicable, with the pair connecting after his adoptive mother’s death in 1986.

The latest revelation about Jobs’ personal life provides insight into his feelings about his adoption, as well as his respect for fellow creators and love of music.

The new book about his life begins with a quote from a 2007 interview with Jobs: “I think one of the ways people express their appreciation for the rest of humanity is to create something great and get it out there. ‘

Jobs’ love of music is said to have been crucial to the development of the Apple brand, and Bob Dylan is said to be another of his heroes.

An email in the new book reveals that the music lover has curated and sent himself his own “celebrity playlist” – which was a feature on the recently launched iTunes at the time.

The Apple founder’s playlist, which unlike other celebrity picks, has never been uploaded, features artists like Bob Dylan and Cat Stevens.

Jobs’s emotional response 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 was killed in a fire.

Jobs wrote, “I first heard this on my car radio as I was driving down Highway 280, and I began to cry.”

The revelations are in the book published yesterday by the Steve Jobs Archive, an organization founded last year by Jobs’s friends and family, including his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs.

The free digital book consists of the Apple executive’s emails, speeches, interview clips and unseen photos.

It was designed by Sir Jony Ive, Apple’s former British design boss, and his creative agency LoveFrom.

One of the other incredible revelations in the collection is that Jobs left former US President Bill Clinton waiting on the phone while he worked on the production company Pixar, which he later sold to Disney.

A handwritten note on Pixar stationery, depicting Woody from Toy Story, one of the computer animation company’s most famous characters, reads, “Steve, President Clinton hold tight.”

The archive also states that Jobs had regular contact with President Clinton and that in 1996 he sent an enthusiastic e-mail from the White House to colleagues at computer company NeXT.

“I’m sending you this email from the White House!!” it reads, and is signed ‘Steve’.

According to his biographer, Jobs developed a friendship with Clinton, with their correspondence ranging from Jobs giving government advice to the president telling the tech boss his name was on a crossword puzzle in the paper.

Clinton even allegedly consulted Jobs about what to do about his affair with Monica Lewinsky during a late-night phone call, reportedly advising the president, “I don’t know if you’ve done it, but if you have, you should do it.” tell the country.’

Shortly after Jobs’ death, Clinton spoke of his friendship with the Apple founder during an interview with Time editor Richard Stengel.

Clinton said, “When my daughter was at Stanford, he contacted me and said, ‘It’s hard to travel to see your kid when you’re president. I have a place in the country.

“You and Hillary can stay there and take Chelsea and her friends there whenever you want.”

“He gave me a priceless gift: the chance to see my child while I was still a very public figure, so I am very biased in his favor. And even I can work with an iPad.’